Tiberius and gaius gracchus
Tuberous and Gauss Gracious When Tuberous and Gallus Gracious became an authority, Rome was no longer a Republic, being controlled by the nobles throughout the empire. A reformation was desperately needed. But who would lead it? Tuberous Gracious would, a man of noble blood. Also, being the Great Nephew of the remarkable general, Gossip Africans, and the son of a noble Censor, he would have an influence and great effect upon the people of Rome and the world.
Throughout the lives of Tuberous and Gauss Gracious, the Karachi brothers brought In many ideas that changed Rome and future enervation. At the time, Rome had been corrupt; enough that It would even affect the military itself. Rome was at constant war and the people of Italy were being drafted into the armies of the Roman Empire. To have war, one must have men. The drafting of men was quite common at the time considering that a large mass of men was needed to convey the actions of Rome. If one was to serve in the army, one must have owned land.
When the men had left to war, which would watch over their land or run their farms? The Nobles took this Law to their advantage by acquiring the land of the oldie’s enlisted in the armies of Rome. When soldiers returned home, they had nothing. A man of great influence was needed, one with a background of great authority and noble blood; to lead the reformation of a corrupt and unbalanced Roman Society. But to lead the revolution, one must take authority while not being seen as a king; which the Romans absolutely despised. Land being acquired by noble men was making many homeless and shifted the Roman economy.
A boundary was clearly made between the upper class and the lower classes; the power was no longer in the hands of the people but in the hands of the nobles. As the country continued its downfall “thoughtful Romans began to realize the need to attempt some alleviation of the economic Those in high positions saw the corruption throughout the empire that would eventually drive Rome into the ground. The Illegal actions throughout the empire did not go unseen; though few realized the situation, which Included the leader of the Revolution, Tuberous Semipro’s Gracious.
The goal of the revolution was to reform the land laws of Rome, creating a once again stable society and economy. Tuberous Gracious “a noble tribune in an influential position” (Plutarch) had a task of reorganizing and stabilizing the Roman economy. Everything was continuing to be affected because of the loss of land experienced by the Roman peoples; and something needed to be done. A bill by Tuberous Gracious would be the first step Into the reformation. It was called the Leg Grain, a bill that put a limit on the acres that one could own.
Which helped soldiers gain their land back and to provide homes for returning war veterans. This bill was absolutely necessary and if shut down; Rome would continue to downfall. Many said if only because it affected Romeos Military strength”(Richardson). The armies were having shortages of men; because almost none owned land due to the noble theft of property. To have an army, men must be a well-supplied resource. If an army Is conquer. Therefore, by creating stable economy, Rome would not only strengthen its military, but alleviate its struggling economy.
After taking veto after veto by the tribune, Marcus Octavo’s, the senate was sidestepped and defeated by a popular vote. His reformations were carried out and funded by the government of Rome; his influences upon many were broad. According to Plutarch, Octavo’s himself was a possessor of a large amount of public land and was thus liable to the provisions of the Leg Grain” (Richardson). Many of the senators were bound to this law and were affected by it, and hatred for Tuberous was brewing in the hearts of many.
His reformations would have to be passed on to his younger sibling after the physical outrage of the Senate and the death of Tuberous Compromise Gracious himself. His reformations were broadly welcomed by those of the middle and lower classes but hated by those of noble families, land was distributed and Rome was slowly turning to a stable economic situation. In the Event of the death of the political leader, Tuberous Gracious, of the reformation, Gauss Gracious took over the cause of the once living Tuberous Gracious.
Having a partial failure, Tuberous Gracious’ currently unsuccessful operation due to the political biases against him and his reformation, “failure is in itself no sign of lack of spirit and ability’ (Riddle). The idea of equality and reformation was in the air, and the reformation had been far from over. Gauss Gracious; being the younger brother of Tuberous Gracious had been a strong supporter of him and had a good political aground making him the best fit to take charge in the reformation. Continuing in the reformation “Gauss then turned to further economic reform. He re-enacted his brother’s Agrarian Bill (Seculars, 32). He had the bill of his brother enforced throughout Italy and “much of the land available had no doubt been distributed by this time, Gauss supplemented this bill with a plan to establish some colonies in Italy, some were to come from the lower and middle classes in order to provide some capital for the promotion of industries in the colonies” (Seculars 33). ” Gauss had a Lana to raise the status by establishing a system that would uplift the Republic and create an idea of fairness and equality in Rome. Using the Bill of his brother Tuberous, Gauss was able to bring ideas into Rome that would change it for the better.
Taking position of Tribune in the Senate (like Tuberous before him) Gauss was considerably more successful than his brother Tuberous by gaining the support of the equestrian class and many high political leaders. Gauss had brought forward the ideas of citizenship for all Italians, economic competition, continuation of land reformations, an age limit for those to be drafted in the army, topping Judicial bribery, expanding Francine to the Latinist, and slowly began to give power back to the people. But many of these ideas were vulnerable from the attack of senators, which opposed the Karachi. During Gauss’ second tribune the senate at last moved to the attack but at first by an indirect method (Seculars, 35). Another Tribune sent by the Senate had the assignment of winning over the supporters of Gauss through attractive proposals. “Gauss’ position simply was to be undermined by others and his ideas shut down” (Seculars, 35). Gauss went through the same trials and fire that his brother had to endure. Through the deaths of other consuls and threats of Gauss’ life his ideas still remained and were recognized by the people of decrease in popularity and support. The Karachi was in true sense martyrs: they had witnessed to their belief in the need for reform and they had suffered for their faith” (Seculars, 37). ” The two men; Tuberous and Gauss Gracious had brought in ideas that had not only shaped the Republic, but took the dominant power out of the hands of the Senate and put it back in the hands of the people. At least this was a realization of what Rome truly was and why reformations were necessary and essential to the Roman Empire. Though problems were still within the armies and economy, the Karachi created a realization and example for the people of Rome to follow.
The reality of the Karachi reformations were that they were short lived, for many of these laws and reformations only lasted for a short period of time and not throughout all of the Roman Empire. “The Karachi received some direct results, though many of the economic difficulties remained, they at least helped to relieve, those main problems in Rome” (Seculars, 38). The corrupt Roman Empire, suffering by economic and social decay, had alleviation by two Tribunes of the time, who was Tuberous and Gauss Gracious. Their reformations and ideas helped the people of Rome realize the corruption of Rome.
The ideas and events of the time had been the sign of a great awakening. Though their relief of the economic and social conditions was short-lived, the dominant power no longer rested in the hands of the Senate as it once did, but now, in the hands of the people. Works cited Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracious Brothers. London: Classes and Company Limited, 1976. Seculars, H. H. From the Karachi to Nero: A history of Room 133 B. C. To A. D. 68. London and New York: Methuen and Co.
Ltd, 1959. Riddle, John. Tuberous Gracious: Destroyer or Reformer of the Republic. Massachusetts: D. C. Health and Company,1970. “When Tuberous and Gauss Gracious sought to establish the liberty of the common people and expose the crimes of the oligarchs, the guilty nobles took fright and opposed their proceedings by every means at their disposal” – Cicero. The Karachi brothers were clearly well intentioned men who had the interests of Rome at heart, instead of their own, which was a common attitude amongst the other senators.
The reforms of the Karachi were long over-due and their programs were genuine attempts to deal with Romeos problems. During the Graphics existence, Rome was facing a number of social, selfishness of the oligarchy and so adopted methods which threatened the balance between the senate, the magistrates and the people which had existed for a very long time – in this way they can be regarded as revolutionary. It is likely that they interpreted the problems far too simply, and they failed to see Thurman society had changed.
The Senate also failed to see these changes and reacted to the Graphics actions in the only way they could – violence. The senate felt threatened by the Graphics methods, and as a result violence was used for the first time in Roman politics. In order to understand why the Karachi attempted to solve these problems, one must examine the circumstances of Rome at the time, as well as the background of the two brothers. After the Second Punic War, the Senate became the supreme power and as a result, many changes occurred throughout Rome.
Most notably, the ruling Oligarchy (specifically the nobles) abused their power, caring more for their own eternal interests and Gloria than the welfare of the republic. As a result major problems occurred throughout Rome. Serious economic social problems occurred, both rural and urban, causing grave distress among many Roman citizens. There was a military crisis, with lack of eligible recruits for the legions, aggravated by the Spanish and Sicilian wars. There was tension in the oligarchy between leading factions (Claudia / Compression and the Copies) as they struggled for political superiority.
And amongst all these problems was the failure of the ruling nobility within the senate to deal with these problems. In order to determine the significance of both Karachi, one must examine both Tuberous’ and Gauss’ actions and the effects they had at the time. In 133, Tuberous Gracious attempted to solve Romeos problems, specifically the land crisis. He introduced the Leg Agrarian, a bill for land reform, which proposed that a commission of three people should allocate small holdings of land owned by the state (eager publics) to landless citizens.
The bill was met with great controversy, however, it wasn’t the content of the bill that provoked the reaction, rather the means with which it was proposed. As Stockton notes “It ceased to be a struggle about the rights and wrongs of a particular land bill and became a fundamental question about the true nature of Roman politics”. Tuberous met great opposition to the bill itself because the ruling Nobles were those benefiting the most from the current situation. Therefore, Tuberous used his tribune in an unprecedented manner, and in proposing his bill, bypassed the senate going directly to the continuum plebes.
Whilst technically legal, this action threatened the senate’s guitarists and dignities, and their superiority with regards to legislation and matters concerning the state. Tuberous also went further in his provocation of the senate by deposing Octavo’s after the senate attempted to use Octavo’s to veto Tuberous’ land bill. Again, Tuberous was perfectly within legal constraints, claiming that since the Job of a tribune was to represent the people, he had done nothing illegal, and was Justified in deposing Octavo’s because Tuberous believes he failed to do so.
Previously, Tribunes such as which Tuberous proposed his bill (as well as Gauss’ services), it became possible to use tribunes as instruments of change, undermining the traditional powers of the senate s well as providing potential for ambitious men to promote their own political careers. As Seculars notes, “the original function of the tribunes had been to protect the people against patrician domination, but this need had long passed and they had become useful agents for the nobility, often using their veto to check the popular assemblies”.
Whilst Tuberous was eventually killed by the senate before he could pass his three other revolutionary reforms, Tuberous was an incredibly powerful tribune, and as Cicero notes “was not a mere plaything of oligarchic government”. As stated y Cicero, “Tuberous Gracious shattered the stability of the state”. It is also important to note that Tuberous Gracious laid the groundwork for his brother Gauss to achieve considerable success. In the year 123, Gauss Gracious became tribune, and took over his brother’s quest to solve the problems that plagued Rome at the time.
However, Gauss learned from his brother’s mistakes in releasing that in order to overcome the senate’s opposition, he would have to gain far more support than his brother Tuberous did, appealing to the classes of the equities, allies and plebs. Gauss was also a superb orator, which is articulacy pertinent in the example of his speech to the senate, where as Plutarch notes, “he roused the people’s emotions with sentiments and he possessed a powerful voice and spoke with overwhelming conviction”.
Gauss Gracious covered a broader area than his brother did, dealing with the subject of the Italian and Latin allies. Gauss attempted to further the Agrarian settlements initiated by Tuberous, to relieve the suffering of the urban unemployed and poor, to reduce the power of the ruling nobility and to resolve the increasing discontent of the Latin and Italian allies y offering them Roman citizenship. All the above-mentioned laws in one way or another, weakened or undermined the power of the senate.
The harshest law in this respect was the Leg Cilia, which highlighted the Senate’s corruption and incompetence. According to Plutarch the law “more than any other reduced the power of the senate” and formed the basis for the struggle over law courts which was to continue in future years. Gauss also introduced the Equestrian class as a third political force, which would further balance the government and weaken the power f the senate, and within ten years of the Graphics death they would ally themselves with either the senate or the people for their own political gain.
Gauss also dealt with the increasing discontent of the Italian and Latin Allies by offering them Roman citizenship. This proposal was vetoed by Lives Drugs (a tribune who was used by the senate to outbid Gauss for the support of the people) and opposed by a large section of society; the Nobles feared that this would jeopardize their control of the assemblies, whilst the equities wanted to avoid giving any advantages to their Italian commercial rivals.
Although this law ended up unsuccessful in the short term, the long term effects of this resulted in the Allies becoming more aware of their rights which would then lead to a war in which the outcome had Latin and Italian Allies receiving Roman citizenship. Measures, the passing of the USC (senates consult ultimatum) which was the first time violence was officially used as a political weapon. This became the start of violence in Roman politics, being used more frequently by the senate when they had no other means to resort to, and would drastically change the nature of Roman politics for the years to come.
After Tuberous’ and Gauss’ deaths, the consequences of their actions were still in effect, most notable in the example of Marcus and Usual. The lowering of property qualifications in Gauss’ reforms led to the rise of a professional army creating a nexus between the land, army and the commander. Soldiers no longer became dependent on the state for land grants, but on their commander. This led to commanders such as Marcus and Usual commanding powerful armies with political weight.
Marcus however can be considered a better example as Marcus used the precedent set by the Karachi to initiate his own reforms, particularly once again awakening the hold of senatorial aristocracy on Roman politics. By examining the Karachi and their accomplishments, it becomes apparent that the Graphics most significant contribution to Rome was recognizing the flaws in the Republic, particularly the senate and its reliance on the notions of Moms Moratorium.
The Karachi set out to expose these weaknesses, as well as attempting to solve many of Romeos largest problems, as a result of the senate’s inactivity, selfishness and negligence. This resulted in the Senate’s hostile reaction to the Karachi, which therefore allowed the Karachi to make revolutionary changes to the face of Roman elitist, as a direct and indirect result of their actions, including the notion of a tribune as an instrument of initiative and reform, and more importantly, the introduction of violence in Roman politics.
