What happened to Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus when they urged reforms?

Answer 1

Tiberius Gracchus was elected as a plebeian tribune in 133 B.C. tried to implement a land reform that would redistribute land to the poor to address the economic plight of the poor. Peasants were being pushed off their farms by rich landowners (who were patricians) who expanded their estates using slave labour. They migrated to Rome and lived in abject poverty due to a scarcity of work. They often had to rely on hand-outs by the by the rich by becoming their clients. The brothers tried to address this poverty by redistributing land to the displaced peasants. The senate (which represented the patricians) disrupted the passage of the law, but was voted on and approved. Some senators hired thugs who clubbed Tiberius and some 300 of his supporters to death.

Gaius Gracchus (Tiberius' brother) was elected as a plebeian tribune in 123 B.C. He revived his brother's land reform and passed a bill which gave the urban poor a dole of subsidised grain. He opposed the power of the senators. He sought support from equestrians a class of rich people which had not acceded to the senate. He wanted to give them control over a court that tried senators for misconduct in administration in the Roman provinces by replacing the senators who sat in this court. He also wanted to improve the citizenship rights to the Italian allies of Rome. However, this was opposed by a large number of plebeians who saw it as a threat to the privileges Roman citizenship gave them and turned against him. His popular support weakened and the consul Lucius Opimius attacked his supporters and 3,000 of them died in the fighting or were executed afterwards. Gaius fled and was pursued. He committed suicide before he was caught.

Answer 2

The Gracchii

were trying for land and debt reform. They felt it was necessary to even up the wealth and raise the status of the poor.

Answer 3

they were killed first tiberius then about 36 years later gaius fell to the same fate