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Roman Times
All the News Romans Need to Know
121 B.C
Rome, Italy
Headline Stories
Assassinations of Gracchi Brothers
By Arianna Flamer
Breaking news! Gaius
Gracchus, brother of Tiberius, has
been killed today. He was found dead
after the breakup of a riot started by
hundreds of patricians, joined by
many Senate members. More than
3,000 of Gaius’ supporters were
murdered by senators who opposed
his reform ideas. After further
investigations, Opimus and other
senators may be held accountable for
Gaius’ death. Some news reports
state that Opimus was giving a reward
for Gaius’ death. We have been
informed that Gaius had commanded
one of his slaves to kill him rather
than him be captured. Just as his
brother, Gaius had similar goals in
changing Rome. Gaius wanted to
reform prices, the military, as well as
enacting land bills which restricted
the amount of land one family could
own. Gaius also wanted to establish
colonies and desired to give voting
rights to non-Roman Italians.
Unfortunately, this weakened his
support system from the urban poor
group of people. “I have been on board
with all of his ideas except this one.
The right to vote gives the common
people a power in politics and it is not
something that should be given
freely.” This was a response given by
one of Gaius’ supporters.
“The wild beasts in Italy have their dens to call
home; but the men who bear arms and expose
themselves to death for Italy enjoy nothing more than
air and light.”
--- Tiberius Gracchus,
Quoted in Plutarch’s Lives
(Around 1st century A.D.)
What gave Gaius and Tiberius a
reason for change around Rome? As
territories grew, so did the percentage
of wealth. People who have money
own land, and if people are getting
more money that means that they can
buy more land. Wealthy landowners
are now buying huge properties
throughout Italy. However, the
economy is based on small scale
farming and raising livestock, also
known as pastoralism. Rome
depended on food that was imported
from the countryside. This way gave
farms (which are ran by absentee
landlords) much more profitable
locations for the sales of cash crops.
This meant that the poor, landless
people living in rural areas have less
and less access to staple foods. The
situation worsened when the Roman
soldiers returned home. Farmers were
kicked out from their land and it was
given to the soldiers so they could
have their own farmland for their
family. The farmers who were evicted
now have to deal with no access to
basic necessities, so they decided to
move to the center of urban cities.
Tiberius enacted these laws through
the plebeian Assembly. Either
assembly could pass laws without the
agreement of the other, but this was
not traditionally encouraged. Tiberius
was the first to do this. The Senate
tried to veto, but Tiberius was able to
pass it and a commission of Appius
Claudius and the Gracchi was created.
Tiberius ran for a second term, or year
as tribune, but while the Senate
debated if this was a legal act, Tiberius
was killed by a mob that did not
support his new reforms.
Although both Tiberius and
Gaius’ reform attempts failed, the
Gracchi brothers became martyrs of
Rome and symbols of political honor.
Statues of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
Rome is becoming a place of
rich and poor and the gap between the
two continues to grow. The number of
slaves is rapidly increasing. So much
so, that slave labor became so cheap
that slave owners would work their
slaves until they died, then buy new
ones. This made life for small farm
owners very difficult since it was
cheaper to buy a slave than hire free
laborers. These workers were unable
to find jobs in the countryside and the
unemployment rate in Rome
drastically increases.
Tiberius Gracchus saw these
problems as the start of rebellion,
revolts, and riots, and he was
determined to give the plebeians the
rights that they are deprived of. Ten
years before Gaius’ death, Tiberius
aimed to help the landless poor. He
fought to redistribute the surplus of
land owned by aristocrats and it was
to be spread among the poor. The
Senate, which is made of higher class
citizens, refused these proposals but
Sources:
The Romans by Kevin M. McGeough
Ancient Romans by Rosalie F. and Charles F.
Baker III