Who were gaius and Tiberius graccus?

Answer 1

The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, tried implement a land reform that would redistribute land form the large landed estates of the patricians to address the economic plight of the poor. Peasants were being pushed off their farms by rich landowners 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.

Tiberius was elected plebeian tribune in 133 BC. He pressed for a land reform by using an old law that limited the amount of land that could be owned any individual. The used another law to establish a commission to oversee the redistribution of land which was made up of himself, his brother Gaius and his father-in-law. The senators, even the liberal ones opposed this as were worried that their lands would be confiscated. They got other tribunes to oppose the reforms. Tiberius then appealed to the people. The senators threatened to prosecute Tiberius after the end of his term. Thus Tiberius stood for re-election. The senators obstructed this. Then several of them attacked him with the help of hired thugs. Tiberius and some 300 of his supporters clubbed to death.

Gaius was elected as a plebeian tribune in 123 BC. 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 who had not acceded to the senate. He wanted to give them control over a court that tried senators for misconduct in administration in the provinces by replacing the senators who sat in this court. He also wanted to improve the citizenship rights to non-Roman Italians. 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 Gracchans. Gaius was killed and 3,000 of his supporters died in the fighting or were executed afterwards.