Editing Gracchi brothers (section)

== Reforms ==

Various reforms had been attempted in the years prior to 133&nbsp;BC. One of the ones that was successful was the establishment of a secret ballot in 139&nbsp;BC by the tribune [[Gabinia gens|Aulus Gabinius]]. The circumstances of the reform are no longer known: it was probably presented as an expansion of public liberty and a check against corruption (no longer would those who bribed be able to ensure that recipients voted as instructed).{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=60}} Legislation extending the secret ballot was passed in 137, the {{lang|la|[[Lex Cassia tabellaria|lex Cassia]]}}, extending the secret ballot to capital cases after Scipio Aemilianus convinced an opposing tribune to heed the people and withdraw his veto.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=61}}

The introduction of secret ballot was probably one of the necessary conditions for the later Gracchan programme since it insulated the popular assemblies from elite control.{{sfn|Flower|2010|p=73}} For this reason, the historian Harriet Flower, in the 2010 book ''Roman republics'', demarcates a political watershed and new phase of the Roman republic at 139&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Flower|2010|pp=72 et seq}} Shortly before Gabinius' law, in 140&nbsp;BC, agrarian reforms were proposed by the consul [[Gaius Laelius Sapiens]]; but he withdrew his proposals after an invasion (he was assigned as consul to lead the response) and the opposition of the senate, earning him the cognomen {{lang|la|Sapiens}}.{{sfn|Flower|2010|p=72}}

The ancient historians, especially [[Plutarch]], viewed the Gracchan reforms and brothers as a single unit. Modern scholars have started to view them separately and in their own political contexts.<ref>{{harvnb|Flower|2010|p=72|ps=. "More is gained by looking at the Gracchi brothers separately and in their own particular political contexts, rather than treating them as a unit in the way that has become increasingly common and that dates back to the paired biographies written by Plutarch".}}</ref>

=== Tiberius ===
{{further|Tiberius Gracchus}}

Views on Gracchus' motives differ. Favourable ancient sources attribute his reforms to spirited advocacy for the poor. Less favourable ancient sources, such as [[Cicero]], instead attribute his actions to an attempt to win back {{lang|la|dignitas}} and standing after the embarrassing treaty he was forced to negotiate after defeat in Spain.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=61}} It cannot be doubted that, even if he was a true believer in the need for reform, Tiberius hoped to further his fame and political standing among the elite.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=65}}

==== Agrarian reforms ====
[[File:Gracchan land distributions.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Map of Gracchan land distributions. In red, distributions are attested to by archaeological finds of the boundary stones ({{lang|la|cippi}}). In yellow, {{lang|la|cippi}} are very likely.]]
[[File:Gracchan land commission inscriptions, CIL vol 1 (2nd edn, 1918) p 514.png|thumb|right|upright=1.25|This page in the revised edition of the ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum]]'' describes a number of columns documenting the work of Tiberius' land commission and its membership at various times. His brother Gaius and father-in-law Appius Claudius Pulcher appear multiple times. ]]
[[File:C. Minucius Augurinus, denarius, 135 BC, RRC 242-1.jpg|thumb|right|Denarius of Gaius Minucius Augurinus, 135&nbsp;BC, depicting the ''columna Minucia'', which itself showed a grain distribution by [[Lucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus|Lucius Minucius Augurinus]]. It shows that grain distribution was already a hot topic several years before Tiberius' tribunate. He or his brother Tiberius probably replaced Octavius as tribune in 133.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|pp=273–76}} ]]

The main goal of Tiberius' agrarian proposal was three-fold:
* establish a commission to investigate, survey, and catalogue the land owned by the state,
* limit the amount of public land any one possessor could hold to about 500 {{lang|la|[[Jugerum|jugera]]}}, possibly up to 1,000 {{lang|la|jugera}} for those with two children,{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=230}} and
* privatise all remaining land by distributing it to poor Roman citizens (Italians were excluded).{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=230}}<ref>{{harvnb|Mackay|2009|p=39|ps=. "These clauses apparently make it clear that land was distributed only to Roman citizens and not to the Italian allies", also dismissing Appian's claims to the contrary. }}</ref>

The purpose of the reform was to stimulate population growth and expand the number of people who would meet the property qualifications for service in the Roman army.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|pp=227, 231}} The inclusion of the limit of 500 {{lang|la|jugera}} was for the purpose of painting the law as a return to {{lang|la|[[mos maiorum]]}} and the [[Sextian-Licinian rogations]] so to avoid any charges of novelty.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=231}} Whether the Sextian-Licinian rogations in fact had such a clause is unclear; what mattered to Tiberius and his allies was that they believed it did.<ref>{{harvnb|Roselaar|2010|p=100}} documents scholarly disagreement as to when a 500 jugera maximum was in fact implemented. Suggested dates range from 300–133&nbsp;BC, with the last date implying that no such prior law existed.</ref>

Land distributed was likely done so with a prohibition on alienation and a {{lang|la|vectigal}} (rent). Alienation was prohibited to prevent recipients from simply reselling the land. The {{lang|la|vectigal}} served to allow the land to revert to the state if a citizen walked away from the allotment; reversion would then allow the state to settle someone else on the land.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=235}} The {{lang|la|veteres possessores}} (old possessors) also would receive security of tenure over their lands, up to the 500 or 1,000 {{lang|la|jugera}} limit.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=236}}

Tiberius was supported in his endeavour by likeminded aristocrats who also viewed the perceived problem of rural depopulation seriously – among those in support of the proposal were the consul of 133&nbsp;BC, [[Publius Mucius Scaevola (pontifex maximus)|Publius Mucius Scaevola]], and Scaevola's brother, [[Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus]], – he may have been put up to pass the proposals by those allied statesmen.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=38}} He was also successful in rallying large numbers of rural plebs to Rome to vote in favour of the plan.{{sfnm|Roselaar|2010|1p=224|Lintott|1994b|2p=66|ps=, "Gracchus' proposal brought him enormous public support. A contemporary historian... claimed that he was escorted by not less than 3,000—4,000 men".}} The proposals were likely not appealing to the urban plebs, who would not have had the agricultural skills necessary to capitalise on the programme.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=224}}

He was opposed in the assembly by one of the other tribunes, [[Marcus Octavius]]. There were largely three grounds for opposition: first, the dispossession would harm the ruling classes of both Rome and the Italian allies; second, the law unfairly dispossessed people who had put money into the improvement of the land; third, that dispossession also would unsettle dowries pledged against the land and inheritances made under the assumption tenure was secure.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=40–41}} When the vote arrived and Octavius interposed his tribunician veto, the matter was brought before the senate, but no settlement was reached. Unwilling to back down, Tiberius – unprecedentedly – had the assembly depose Octavius from office and vote the legislation through.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=41–43}}

==== Death ====
Violent opposition to Tiberius' agrarian policy did not come to a head until he moved legislation to use the inheritance of [[Attalus III]] of [[Pergamon]] for the land commission. The ancient sources differ on the question of what Attalus' bequest was to be dedicated: Plutarch claims it was to be used to help land recipients purchase farm equipment; Livy, via epitome, claims that it was to be used to purchase more land for distribution after there turned out to be little land available.<ref>{{harnvb|Roselaar|2010|p=239|ps=, siding, in this instance, with Plutarch's account.}}</ref>

This second proposal infringed on senatorial prerogatives over foreign policy and public finances. Senators also feared that these financial handouts would give Tiberius substantial personal political power.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=240}} Tiberius then announced his intention to stand for re-election; according to Livy, this was illegal, due to a law which forbade holding the same magistracy within ten years.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=68}} The sources allege that Tiberius also announced plans for a significantly more broad set of reforms, but these may be retrojections of his brother Gaius' later-consummated proposals.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=69}} On the day of the election, Tiberius seized the [[Capitoline Hill]], possibly to intimidate the voters; Tiberius' opponents accused him of having kingly aspirations and attempted to induce the consul in the senate to use force to stop his re-election.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=48–49}} The consul refused to act extralegally, but one of the other senators, [[Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio]], found this reply unacceptable and led an impromptu military levy of senators, which included one of Tiberius' colleagues in the plebeian tribunate; with Nasica, who was ''[[pontifex maximus]]'', reenacting an archaic sacrificial ritual, they then stormed the Capitoline and bludgeoned Tiberius and a number of his supporters to death.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=50}}

It was largely constitutional issues which impelled the violent reaction, not the agrarian laws. The reaction was motivated in part by Greek constitutional thought which created a narrative of popular mobilisation leading inexorably to popular tyranny.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boren |first=Henry C |date=1961 |title=Tiberius Gracchus: the opposition view |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/292017 |journal=American Journal of Philology |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=358–69 |doi=10.2307/292017 |jstor=292017 |issn=0002-9475 |quote=It appears extremely likely that Nasica and the rest were actually convinced [Tiberius] was aiming at demagogic tyranny. These nobles feared that the deterioration predicted by Polybius was upon them ... the murderers genuinely thought they had saved the state by killing a would-be tyrant ... whose actions were bound to result in the ruin of the republic. }}</ref> Such beliefs were compounded by the recent example of tyranny in Sparta, led by [[Nabis of Sparta|Nabis]], which had come to power with a reform programme of cancelling debts and redistributing lands.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=66}}

==== Effects ====
Tiberius' {{lang|la|lex agraria}} and the commission survived his death. Opposition was to Tiberius' methods rather than his policies; it is likely that most senators agreed with the reform programme in principle.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1p=55|Lintott|1994b|2p=73}} Archaeologists have recovered the commission's boundary stones ({{lang|la|cippi}}), which documenting the three commissioners' activities from 133 to 130&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roselaar |first=Saskia T |date=2009 |title=References to Gracchan activity in the ''liber coloniarum'' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25598462 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=198–214 |doi=10.25162/historia-2009-0009 |jstor=25598462 |s2cid=160264713 |issn=0018-2311}} See also {{CIL|1|642}}; {{CIL|10|289}}.</ref> The boundary locations and descriptions imply the distribution over just a few years of some 3,268 square kilometres of land to Roman citizens, concentrated in southern Italy and benefitting some 15,000 households.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|pp=252–54}}

The {{lang|la|cippi}} largely name Tiberius' younger brother Gaius, [[Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 143 BC)|Appius Claudius Pulcher]], and [[Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus|Publius Licinius Crassus]].{{sfnm|Roselaar|2010|1pp=240–41|Broughton|1951|2p=495}} Tiberius appointed himself to the commission, but after his death, Crassus was elected in his place.{{sfn|Broughton|1951|p=495}} After the natural deaths of Appius Claudius and Crassus by 130&nbsp;BC, [[Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 125 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Flaccus]] and [[Gaius Papirius Carbo (consul 120 BC)|Gaius Papirius Carbo]] were elected in their place.{{sfn|Broughton|1951|p=503}}

Because one of the commission's goals was in reasserting Roman claims to land which by that time had long been occupied by the Italian allies, the allies started to complain of unfairness and inaccurate rushed surveying.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|pp=240–41}} In 129, those complaints were heard by the senate, who also took the opportunity to limit the agrarian commission's powers.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=240}} [[Scipio Aemilianus]] proposed and received from the senate a decree which assigned the power to determine contested ownership to the consuls. By 129&nbsp;BC, the commission had over some three years already distributed all the available uncontested land. Archaeological finds of Gracchan {{lang|la|cippi}} largely stop after 129&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=241}}

=== Gaius ===
{{further|Gaius Gracchus}}

Discontent among the Italian allies had grown between Tiberius' land commission and the later 120s&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=58}} One of the land commissioners elected in the early 120s&nbsp;BC, [[Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 125 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Flaccus]] had served as consul in 125&nbsp;BC and – according to Appian – proposed a compromise giving the allies Roman citizenship in exchange for acquiescence to Roman reassertion of claims to the {{lang|la|ager publicus}}. This proposal, however, fell through when Flaccus was dispatched to war in Transalpine Gaul; relations with the allies were also not helped by the revolt and destruction of the Latin colony of [[Fregellae]] when Flaccus' proposals were withdrawn.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1p=59|Lintott|1994b|2p=76}}

Gaius positioned himself politically as the inheritor of Tiberius' popularity and political programme. After a quaestorship, he was elected fourth in the tribunician elections of 124&nbsp;BC;{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=59–60}} after his election, he cast his brother's death as "a failure by the plebeians to maintain their tradition of defending their tribunes".{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=77}} Unlike his brother, Gaius' proposals largely did not relate to land.<ref>{{harnvb|Roselaar|2010|pp=241–42|ps=. "[T]he sources are rather vague about the agrarian activities of Gaius ... His recorded agrarian activity is quite limited; Appian and Plutarch describe in some detail [colonial programmes] but for viritane distributions Gaius could simply revive his brother's law".}}</ref> Over two years, he proposed broad legislation touching all parts of Roman government, from tax collection to senatorial provincial assignments.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=59–60}}

==== Reforms ====
[[File:M. Marcius, AR denarius, 134 BC, RRC 245-1.jpg|thumb|right|Denarius of Marcus Marcius minted in 134&nbsp;BC. The [[Ancient Roman units of measurement|modius]] on the obverse and the corn-ears on the reverse refer to his ancestor Manius Marcius, [[plebeian aedile]] {{circa|440&nbsp;BC}}, who made a distribution of grain at a cheap price of 1 [[As (Roman coin)|as]] per modius.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|p=277}} ]]

During his first tribunate, he proposed a number of laws. First, he proposed legislation to bar anyone who the people had deposed from office from further office. This was, however, dropped at the instigation of his mother Cornelia. The proposal was likely meant to intimidate the other tribunes so they would not exercise their vetoes.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1pp=61–62|Broughton|1951|2p=513}} He then passed legislation reaffirming ''[[provocatio]]'' rights and retroactively extending them to the sentences of exile which the consular commission in 132&nbsp;BC had passed against Tiberius' supporters. [[Publius Popillius Laenas]], the consul who had led the commission and was thereby opened to prosecution for violating those rights, immediately left the city for exile in Campania.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=62–63}}

Gaius also moved legislation which would benefit the rich [[Equites|equestrians]], especially those who served as Rome's [[public contractor]]s (the ''[[publican]]i''):
* Gaius changed the bidding location of public [[tax farming]] contracts from the provinces to Rome, which increased oversight and favoured high-ranking equites in the capital rather than provincial elites.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1p=65|Broughton|1951|2p=514}}
* He also passed legislation to build roads, which he would oversee, with contracts let out to the equestrians.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=65}}
* He also made {{lang|la|equites}} the dominant body for juries for the permanent court on corruption. After, however, the acquittal of a corrupt consul that year, Gaius, with the support of an allied tribune, made the {{lang|la|equites}} the sole class staffing the juries.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=66, 70–71 }}

Gaius also recognised the weakness of Tiberius' coalition, which relied only on the rural plebs, and therefore sought to expand it.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=66}} To do so, he courted the urban plebs with legislation establishing Roman colonies both in Italy and abroad at Carthage.<ref>The bill to establish a colony at Carthage was moved by his ally in the tribunate, Gaius Rubrius. {{harvnb|Broughton|1951|p=517}}.</ref> He also carried legislation to stop deduction of soldier pay for equipment and to establish a minimum age for conscription at 17.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=66–67}} In this package, Gaius also introduced the grain subsidy which allowed all citizens to purchase grain at a subsidised price of six and two-thirds [[Sestertius|sesterces]] per {{lang|la|[[Ancient Roman units of measurement#Dry measure|modius]]}}.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=68}}<ref>{{harvnb|Garnsey|Rathbone|1985|p=20|ps=, noting also that the claim that the grain was provided for nothing at App. ''BCiv.'', 1.21, is incorrect and contradicted by Livy and a surviving commentary on Cicero's ''Pro Sestio''.}}</ref>

Further legislation also regulated the magistrates and the senate. Even though the ancient sources generally cast these reforms as part of "an elaborate plot against the authority of the senate... he showed no sign of wanting to replace the senate in its normal functions".{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=78}} Nor were his reforms meant to undermine the senate indirectly or establish a democracy.{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Mackay|2009|2p=68|Lintott|1994b|3p=78}} Rather, Gaius was seeking to have the senators act more in the public interest rather than in their own private interests.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=68}}  To that end, with an ally in the tribunate, [[Acilia gens|Manlius Acilius Glabrio]], he also moved legislation reforming the provincial corruption laws.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=71–72}} Also importantly, he passed the {{lang|la|lex Sempronia de provinciis consularibus}}, which required the senate to assign consular provinces prior to the elections of the consuls and insulated this decision from tribunician veto.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=72–73}}

Some ancient sources claim that Gaius wanted to change voting procedures in the [[wikt:timocracy|timocratic]] {{lang|la|comitia centuriata}} to make it more democratic.<ref>Eg {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=517–18}}, citing Ps.-Sall. ''Ad Caes. sen.'' 8.1.</ref> However, this claim is dubious and largely rejected.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Badian |first=E. |date=1962 |title=From the Gracchi to Sulla |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4434742 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=11 |issue=2 |issn=0018-2311 |pages=244–45 |jstor=4434742 }}</ref>

Gaius made an extremely controversial proposal to improve the state of the Latins and the other Italian allies: the Latins would receive full Roman citizenship with the Italians upgraded to [[Latin rights]]. Doing so further extended to Italians, via Latin rights, the right to vote if present in Rome during elections. This proposal died: the specifics are not entirely clear, it may have been vetoed or otherwise simply withdrawn;{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|pp=82–83}} recent scholarship now trends towards a veto from Livius Drusus.{{sfn|Santangelo|2007|p=481}} Gaius, after taking some leave to set up a colony near Carthage, attempted to stand for a third tribunate, but was unsuccessful. It is said that he had sufficient popular support to have been elected, but was not returned because the ten tribunician offices had already been filled.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=83}}

==== Death ====

Early in the year 121&nbsp;BC, attempts were made to repeal portions of Gaius' legislation. The main point of repeal, however, was not agrarian legislation or his subsidised grain bill, but the comparatively minor question of the proposed colony at Carthage.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|pp=83–84}} After an attendant was killed in the streets by Gaius' supporters, Gaius and his ally Flaccus were summoned to defend themselves before the senate; they refused and barricaded themselves with armed followers on the [[Aventine hill]]. Their refusal was tantamount to rebellion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Badian |first=Ernst |date=1984 |title=The Death of Saturninus |url=https://publications.dainst.org/journals/chiron/article/view/1237 |journal=Chiron |volume=14 |doi=10.34780/1497-zt32 |issn=2510-5396 |page=118 |quote=[C. Gracchus'] own case, two years later, was quite different. He was himself {{lang|la|privatus}}, and he had responded to a summons to the Senate by joining his armed followers on the Aventine. This was rebellion, and it would be widely accepted that emergency action was the only answer. }}</ref> A ''[[senatus consultum ultimum]]'' was then moved, instructing the consul [[Lucius Opimius]] to ensure the state came to no harm and urging him to suppress Gaius and Flaccus on the Aventine. With a force of militia and Cretan archers, Opimius stormed the Aventine, killing Flaccus and his sons; Gaius was either killed or forced to commit suicide. Opimius then presided over drumhead courts investigating and executing many of Gaius and Flaccus' supporters.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=84}}

In the end, most of Gaius' reforms were preserved; archaeology has discovered evidence of Gracchan land colonial activities in Africa {{circa|119&nbsp;BC}} and the land commission remained in operation until 111&nbsp;BC. By that point, almost all land available to distribute had already been distributed.{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|pp=85, 87}}{{sfn|Roselaar|2010|p=278}} In the whole, "the aristocracy's reaction resembled that of a general dealing with a mutiny, who accedes to most of the demands but executes the ringleaders to preserve discipline".{{sfn|Lintott|1994b|p=85}}