In contrast to Tiberius’s very small list of reforms, it can be seen just from this that Gaius was definitely more broad and effective in administering his reforms, as he covered a wide range of problems encompassing both socio-political and socioeconomic reforms. Examples of these include the Lex Frumentaria, the Lex Acilia, numerous judicial laws pertaining to the punishment of officials concerning his brother’s murder, and other assorted economic laws. In this essay, the extent to which Tiberius had an influence on Gaius’s political and personal life will be discussed.
Gaius’s early reforms and laws were aimed at retaining and building upon the name of his brother. One of the earliest legislative measures that Gaius implemented was aimed at diminishing “the investigations that had led to the execution of so many of his brother’s supporters” (Boatwright, Gargola, Talbert, 2004, p. 161), and did so by punishing any magistrate who had inflicted a capital sentence from an investigation (quaestio) not authorised by the concilium plebis.
As a result of this law, the consul who had been responsible for the tribunal that had tried many of his brother’s supporters was exiled. Also, Gaius re-enacted Tiberius’s land bill, slightly changing it, allowing larger allotments of land in order for free labourers to be employed. This prevented the back-lash that Tiberius encountered after the enactment of the bill the first time around, and ensured that it remained in use for a short period of time after Gaius’s death in 122B. C.
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According to government figures, nearly 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some time in their lives. 18 million have smoked marijuana within the last year, and ten million are regular smokers. Almost all of the people arrested for marijuana are arrested for possession. And because of harsh federal and state penalties, these people may be sentenced to lengthy jail terms. This is an abuse ...
Although one of Gaius’s aims was to amend some of Tiberius’s reforms that may have backfired, he also passed many laws which surpassed that of which Tiberius achieved in his lifetime. One of the most prominent and widely acknowledged reforms that Gaius introduced during the time as tribune is the Lex Frumentaria, or the Corn Law (Bradley, 1994, p. 253).
The reform aimed to provide the masses of plebs with corn, who were unable to afford sufficient supplies of grain to feed their family.
This was done through the storing of said grain in warehouses, to be then distributed to the citizens monthly at a low price. It progressively evolved over the course of the empire, and eventually grew by the end of the empire to include food items such as olive oil, bread and pork, and later even the building of houses (Hazlitt, 1973, p. 68).
Evidence of the endurance of this reform can be seen in the present day; the dole. The dole is based on the same system that Gaius Gracchus introduced in 122B. C.
Another such law that Gaius implemented involved the establishment of a colony at the site of the former Carthage, and another elsewhere. These colonies aimed to alleviate the strain that the unemployed and poor had on crowded cities, and echoed Tiberius’s struggle for the rehabilitation of the peasantry (Bradley, 1994, p. 253).
This specific reform was not as successful as the previously mentioned Lex Frumentaria, as the senate “accused him of trying to ingratiate himself with the people” (Bradley, 1994, p. 256).
Later, M.
Livius Drusus’s proposal of founding twelve colonies, each containing 3000 of the poorest peasants was met with open arms from the senate, mainly because they originally proposed that Drusus present this bill to the people, in order to gain their support. Even though the senate were trying to win the hearts of the people, they were only going about matching and bettering one of Gaius’s reforms – over the two years he held office for, he administered many other legislative bills. Going beyond agrarian amendments, Gaius Gracchus successfully actuated a wide range of socio-political and socioeconomic reforms.
Most of these directly aided the plight of the peasant population, and one continually overlooked is the law passed which forbade men under the age of 17 to enlist in the army, and/but also provided clothing for the soldiers, paid for by the senate. This relieved the financial burden from poor families of soldiers who wished to enlist, and ultimately influenced Marius’s later army reforms (Bradley, 1994, p. 255).
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That is a question which many generations of Canadians have asked themselves. Many ideas for reform have arisen form this dialogue, but why havent Canadiatopic I came across many rather insightful and humorous quotations that I am going to share with you. 1. Senator Eugene For sey commenting on the 1987 me ech Lake proposal: The transformed Senate will have all the legal powers of the present ...
One of Gaius’s more dominant and consequential socio-political reforms was the Lex Acilia (the shift of judicial power in courts from the senate to the equite class).
This switch of power in provinces enabled the punishment of corrupt governors. Previously when tried by the senate many of these dishonest officials got off scot-free, since the senators were from the same social-class as the governors, and in many instances, the corrupt governors were associates of the senators trying them. But the law that initiated the eventual undoing of Gracchus was the proposed allowance of full Roman citizenship to their ally, the Latin’s and Latin citizenship to the Italians (Boatwright, Gargola, Talbert, 2004, p. 163).
“This proposal, vetoed by … [M. Livius Drusus was opposed by most sections of society” (Bradley, 1994, p. 255).
This was because the upper-classes (patricians, nobiles etc. ) feared that their supremacy would be compromised by these new “citizens”, plus the plebeians and equites were unwilling to share their newly acquired benefits. This created social unrest, both within the supporters of Gracchus, and of those who opposed him. In comparison with the events that led up to the death of Gracchus’s brother Tiberius, Gaius was more dynamic and audacious in mobilizing his many reforms and legislative schemes.
It can be seen, through Gaius’s actions, that he was a far more fierce and forceful than his brother in executing his laws and reforms. Each of the laws that Gaius Gracchus passed had an under-lying theme to it – to slowly strip away the senates influence and power. In the reasonably large space of time between his brother’s death and the beginning of his first tribuneship (ten years), Gaius had enough time to lay down a plan of action. During this period of time, Gaius would have had the opportunity to make some very important acquaintances and allies, which would benefit him during his time in the tribunate.
He probably realised, because of Tiberius’s relatively short time as tribune that he would have to act quickly and precisely if he was in anyway going to somewhat avenge his brother’s death, and improve the quality of lie for the peasants. He did this by strategically implementing his set of reforms, and all the while “encouraged people to remember and used to advantage their memories of Tiberius’s death in pushing through his extensive reform programme” (Hennessy, 1990, p. 2).
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I must have been about 10 or 11 years old when my mother got the news she was going to be a FIRST TIME GRANDMOTHER. My brother, Robert and his girlfriend, Kristen, had just found out they were expecting a baby. Big Deal, I thought. What was all the commotion about, just a baby, all they do is whine, and cry, need to be fed, need to be changed, and constantly looked after. My mother went through ...
Although Gaius rose by these means to be a quite powerful and respected figure of Roman politics at that time, this did not mean that he and his legion of supporters were impenetrable. Gracchus’s power was severely dwindled when he and his fellow magistrate and ally, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, left Rome to aid at the foundation of the Roman colony at Carthage, leaving his political nemesis, tribune Marcus Livius Drusus (the Elder) in Rome.
While Flaccus and Gracchus were in Carthage, the senate, which by this time more than probably had grown sick of constantly having their power under-mined by a tribune of the plebs, employed Drusus to win over the people (Bradley, 1994, p. 256).
He did so by proposing twelve new colonies, instead of Gaius’s two, allowing more people more land (Boatwright, Gargola, Talbert, 2004, p. 164).
This, and the previous attempt at the extending of citizenship to the Roman allies, significantly lowered Gracchus’s popularity, and while he was out of state, the people grew in support for Drusus.
On Gaius’s return, he campaigned for a third term as tribune, probably indifferent and oblivious to the rapidly declining number of his supporters. He was unsuccessful in his bid, and because of this, he was left powerless and wide open to attack. At this point, the senate, still bitter from all that had been done to them over the past couple of years, tried to provoke Gracchus and Flaccus to do something illegal (Boatwright, Gargola, Talbert, 2004, p. 164).
Events concerning the revoking of the colony at Carthage ensued, instigating the beginning of Gaius Gracchus and M. Fulvius Flaccus’s downfall.
After the consul Lucius Opimius accused them of a direct attack on the senate (one of his heralds was killed during a confrontation between both sides in the middle of an official meeting concerning the colony at Carthage), Gracchus and his supporters were forced to retreat to Aventine hill, where allegedly 3000 Gracchus supporters were killed. Gracchus himself committed suicide, while Flaccus died in the battle. This bloody fight was the result of the senatus consultum ultimum (the Final Decree of the Senate), where a consul was instructed by the senators to insure that the state came to no harm (Boatwright, Gargola, Talbert, 2004, p. 65).
The Term Paper on The Roman Empire During the Reign of Tiberius
The Julio-Claudians are the four emperors that succeeded Augustus following his death in AD14. The Julio-Claudians were Roman Nobles with an impressive and significant ancestry in the Roman Empire. It was during the Julio-Claudian reign that the Roman Empire reached an optimum level of power and wealth, and has been seen as the golden age of Roman arts and literature. The beginning of the Julio- ...
The death of Gracchus reflects his brother, Tiberius’s, death in 132 B. C. at the hands of the senate. It seems that in the end, the senate gained ultimate revenge against their main rivals, the public, by murdering those who were instrumental in their political and social rebellion. Gaius Gracchus was politically and socially influenced by not only the murder of his elder brother Tiberius, but also by his brother’s legislative work.
Gaius passed many important and consequential laws in his time, many which Tiberius had not been able to achieve during his stint as tribune of the plebs. In the end, the mimicry of Tiberius’s agrarian bill and the desperate attempts made to right what was wrong lead to Gaius’s death. These two brothers were not that different in the sense of what they wanted to achieve, and what they did achieve. Tiberius was the trail-blazer, and Gaius the cleaner, trying to correct the wrongs that Tiberius had caused, but also at the same time trying to make a name for himself.