The Gracchi Brothers

The Gracchi brothers, both Tiberius and Gaius rose to being prominent figures by certain motives and state in which Rome was. There were social, economic and political problems which Tiberius hoped to solve in which Gaius could continue.

Tiberius was born into a patrician family where his previous family members were highly prominent figures in Roman politics. He had risen to be such an important figure by lowering himself into the plebeian class and therefore becoming a tribune. There, he proposed a land reform which would allow patricians to share the land equally. One motive that was probable was that he wanted to fulfil a moral obligation by correcting Rome's problems. It was in a horrid state, as she patricians take most of the land, which did not allow plebeian farms expand or grow crops.

Importing grain from other locations was expensive. Also, farmers had left their farms because the bulk of the army was made up of farmers. When they returned from war, they had trouble competing with wealthier farmers who had hired slaves to work for them.

The farmers also had no skills to convert to a corn farm and so they had moved to the city though that had caused an influx in Rome and there was a high rate of unemployment and economic distress. Perhaps Tiberius had seen a way to solve all this and to strengthen the security of Rome's army with his land reform. With this, he became popular and gained a large clientelae. He had also set some precedents by bypassing the Senate and proposing the land bill directly to the Assembly rather than showing the Senate first. He had tried for tribune for a second year. Both these precedents had shown the tribunes what they do with their power, and how to use it properly (or improperly).

Tiberius