Gracchi

The tremondous growth of the Roman empire during 200 B.C.E promted the divide of Roman society into two distinct groups. On one side was the optimates, the Roman aristocratic class who controlled all of the incoming land and slaves, wished to keep the power in the hands of the Roman states so they could continue to reap the immense benfits. On the other side were the powerful familes who took up the cause of the less fortunate masses. As new slaves replaced industrious Romans and wealthy land owners bought out small farmers, thousands of unemployed and frusturated Romans wandered the streets. People, like the Gracchi brothers, took up their cause and  created the populares, a political party advocating the masses and using their numbers as a political weapon.

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus seperated from the optimates after a campaign in Spain where he proposed a treaty to spare the lives of 20,000 Roman soldiers. The Roman state refused to pass such a treaty because it would mean accepting defeat so the bitterly displeased Tiberius took up the cause of the common people, though the son of a consul himslef. His first order of business was to help plebs gain some of the land won in the recently victorius punic wars. It alloted about 1000 acres to a pleb and his two sons, a condition that would allow more people to ascend the social heiarchy through the Roman legion, a job which had a property requirement. His bill was utterly rejected by the aristocratic senate, who would no longer reap the benefits of such land, so he stubbornly used his powers as Tribune to veto any and every senate bill until his was dealt with. Eventually, though Octavian vetoed the bill, it was illegally passed by a frusturated senate, thus creating 75,000 small farms and stablizing Roman's social environment. He then proposed to use money aquired from the new Pergamum lands to enforce the law, directly funneling away money intened for the aristocratic class. He threatened the senate with the tumultuous mob behind him and they once again passed his bill. Tiberius' luck ran out though when he ignored the Roman tradition of time out of office between terms and ran subsequently after his term as tribune had expired. A sentorial group entered the campaign rally and clubbed him to death.

After his untimely death, his younger brother Gaius Sempronius Gracchus stepped onto to the political scence in order to avenge his older brother. He awarded equestrians the rights to collect grain taxes in Asia minor rather than senatorial agents, a huge blow to the optimates prestige. He then created a law which allowed grain to be bought directly from the state for half price, another economic stabilizer. He continued to be a champion of the people by reinstituting his brothers land law to provide more small farms for plebs. Gaius used his immense oratory ability to push through the senate many public projects such as roads, canals, and bathhouses all of which directly affected the lower classes. He then made his fatal error when he awarded full citizenship to native Italians. Roman plebs had no wish to share any land with these "second class citizens" so when he made the mistake of giving them equal rights the senate pounced on the opporunity to blackball Gaius and cause him to lose immense amounts of favor among the public. The senate began to push through laws that put the Romans over the Italians so when Gaius ran for reelection in 121 BCE the political fallout had become far to great and he lost. He then led a protest to Aventine Hill which resulted in all all out rebellion of Gracchus supporters. This gave the senate an excuse to brutally crush this rebellion and caused Gaius to commit suicice. Though both Gracchi brothers ened up dead, their immense social and political upheavel lead to a tumultuous period in Roman scociety that would eventually lead to the Empire's birth.