The Graco brothers, Tiberius and Caio, were two politicians in Pomegranate marked by seeking to carry out agrarian reform in that territory. The proposals of both caused great political unrest and resulted in the articulation of groups to assassinate them. The motivations that led the two to defend proposals in defense of the poorest population are still debated by the historians, despite this and in any case, they showed the real limit of the agendas in defense of the poorest in that time course.
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Historical context: the agrarian question in Rome
At second half of the II century; Ç., Rome was at the stage of the Republic and consolidated as a great Mediterranean power. The Romans had managed to conquer the entire Italian Peninsula and had just defeated the powerful Carthaginians in the struggle waged during the Punic Wars.
That means to say that the amount of land available under Roman rule had increased, but this increase did not mean that the poorest would have access to them. There is a debate among historians about the agricultural situation in Rome at that time, and some of them claim that the small peasants, in addition to not having access to new lands, lost the few they had.
The justifications put forward by historians argue that the upheavals of the last years of the Punic Wars and the sending of peasants to war had left the poor peasant families more vulnerable, and thus large landowners bought their land, forcing them to move to big cities.
This dispute for land, obviously, was a point of tension in Rome, since the commoners sought, since the beginning of the Republic, in the sixth century BC. C., guarantee your rights and the improvement of your life. In this agrarian issue, two names in particular became extremely important: Tibério Graco and Caio Graco.
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Tiberius Gracus
Tiberius Gracchus became a politician in 133 a. Ç.when he was elected tribune of the plebs. This position had been created at the beginning of the Republic in Rome, in 494 a. C., and the purpose of the tribunes of the plebs was secure the interests of commoners and not to allow senators and magistrates to carry out abuses against this portion of Roman society.
In the exercise of his function, Tiberius wanted to make a remodelingagrarian and so take land from those who had too much of it and distribute it to the dispossessed. However, what were the motivations that led Tiberius Gracchus to address this issue? Historian Mary Beard worked on possible reasons for this.|1|.
O first reason it deals with Tiberius' indignation when he found out, during a trip, that, in the north of the Italian Peninsula, the small properties had disappeared. Within this, his main indignation was due to the fact that the peasants were going to war against the Carthaginians, but when they returned they had no right to the Roman lands.
Another point raised is about a possible revenge attempt of Tiberius, in relation to an agreement he had formulated at the time of a war in Hispania (now the Iberian Peninsula) against the Roman Senate, which had humiliated him on that occasion. Carrying out agrarian reform would then be the means used by him to harm those who had perpetrated the humiliation. Furthermore, there are other theories that do not rule out the fact that self-promotion it was Tiberius' great interest in defending this reform.
What did this agrarian reform proposal consist of? It stipulated that all properties should have the maximum size of 500 yugera (120 hectares) and that those exceeding this would be taken by the State to be distributed among peasants who did not own land. The distribution would provide a land of 30 yugera by beneficiary family.
The proposal immediately caught the attention of the senators, mainly because most of them owned a large amount of land, and Tiberius' proposal could only harm them. The law created a lot of tension between Tiberius and these political authorities, but it was passed, and Tiberius was appointed to the commission responsible for reform.
THE voltage that emerged from this proposal was enormous, as the Senate refused to release sufficient resources to carry it out. It turns out that, in 133 a. a., the king of Pergamo, Attalus III, passed away and left all its goods for the people of Rome. Quickly, Tiberius requested these resources to carry out his reform.
Tiberius' action worried the senators not just because he was a direct attack on your privileges but because the way Tiberius handled the whole process was considered an affront. The Senate Conservatives feared he was accumulating too many powers. To make matters worse, that year, the then tribune of the plebs decided to run for re-election to the position (which was prohibited) and ended up being de facto re-elected. This started the violence against Tiberius.
Before the re-election, there was already an articulation between members of the Senate to assassinate Tiberius. When he was re-elected, the articulation started the violence. A group of opponents armed themselves and started a small confrontation with Tiberius and his supporters in the streets of Rome. In this mess, Tiberius and hundreds of his supporters were murdered.
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Caio Graco
Ten years after Tiberius' death, his brother Caius Gracchus became a tribune of the plebs when he was elected. Caio, like his brother, worked directly on the agrarian issue, although his measures were much broader and not restricted exclusively to the question of reform.
The measures taken by Caio were also for the benefit of the poorest layers of Rome. Mary Beard claims he has taken a dozen initiatives in defense of the most needy, such as banning summons to the army of children under 17 years of age and the obligation of the State to pay for the military equipment of the soldiers.
In the case of laws related to the agrarian question, two stand out: the attempt to carry out agrarian reform in lands of Sicily and where the city of Carthage (present-day Tunisia) was located and the stipulation of a quantity of grains to be sold at low prices for every Roman citizen.
The laws showed Caio's concern to guarantee access to land for the dispossessed and access to food for the poorest. This is because Rome was supplied by production from Sicily, Sardinia and North Africa, but when the production in these places was insufficient, the price of food in Rome skyrocketed and harmed the most poor.
This proposal meant that a certain amount of grain was sold monthly at low prices through subsidies provided by the State itself. Mary Beard states that Caio was concerned with developing a minimum structure to make his intention viable, and thus, a place for the storage and distribution of food was organized. In addition, funds were made available for the purchase of these grains and a system was developed to control who had and who had not collected their share.
In the case of agrarian reform, he stipulated the creation of colonies in Sicily and Carthage, but his idea was rejected. Caio's actions and his laws, always aimed at defending the people, were understood by the members of the Senate as a threat. They believed that Caius wanted to become popular with the poor to secure support if he wanted to become king.
Caius, like Tiberius, was eventually targeted when a small riot broke out in Rome. In 121 a. a., an enemy of Caio publicly offended him and for that reason he was attacked and killed by the supporters of Caio. As a result, the Senate eventually passed a law that allowed it to execute, without trial, anyone who was perceived as a threat to the state.
This law unleashed a great persecution of Caius and his supporters, and in the course of this situation, Caius died. Historians are not sure if he was murdered or if he committed suicide to avoid being beaten to death. Others three thousand followers of Caius were killed based on the vacuum of this state authorization to execute people seen as a “threat” to Rome. Caio's reforms, except for the grain distribution, were reversed after his death.
The deaths of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus showed the willingness of the Roman authorities to to stalk and silence all those who sought to carry out more radical reforms and which displeased the interests of the wealthy Romans.
note:
|1| BEARD, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. São Paulo: Planet, 2017
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