Did the roman republica ran smooth?

Answer 1

The Romans Republic developed a very efficient state. However, it had its conflicts.

From 494 BC to 287 BC there was the Conflict of the Orders between the patrician aristocracy and the plebeians, who were the commoners, both rich and poor. The poor plebeians fought for their economic grievances: indebtedness (which at first was due to the nexus, debt bondage, which was the way rich landlords forced the peasants to work for them before their labour was replaced by slaves, and later it was due to interest rates which were still too high) and a shortage of land for the poor (this problems worsened over time as many peasants lost their farms and became landless). The rich plebeians fought to gain access to the offices of state and the senate which were monopolised by the patricians. The plebeians fought with boycotts of the military levy and through plebeian secessions, in which they left the city until the patricians negotiated with them

The rich plebeians won their battle, achieved power sharing with the patricians and were co-opted into a patrician-plebeian oligarchy. They were also given equite status. This was the second highest layer of Roman society. At this point the rich plebeians turned their back on the poor whose problems were not addressed properly.

Tiberius Gracchus mobilised the plebeians and enacted a land reform law aimed at redistributing land to the landless. He and his supporters were lynched by thugs hired by the patricians in 133 BC. His brother Gaius tried to implement Tiberius' land reform, introduced a grain dole at subsidised prices for the poor and tried to establish settlements around the empire where the poor could set up farms. The patricians mobilised armed Romans and mercenaries to attack his supporters in 121 BC. Tiberius fled and committed suicide.

In the last 60 years of the Republic there were 12 civil wars. These were due to clashes between military leaders and the conflict between populares and optimates. The former was a progressive political faction which was sympathetic to the plight of the poor and wanted reforms to help them). The latter was a conservative political faction which favoured the aristocracy and was opposed to reforms.