Chapter 22 Sacrifice for the common people - the Gracchus reform

In the middle of the second century BC, Rome became the overlord of the Mediterranean world. Its sphere of influence not only covered almost the whole of Italy, but also extended to vast areas along the Mediterranean Sea, and established many overseas provinces.As a slave country, Rome used a lot of slave labor.The cruel oppression of the slave owners inevitably aroused strong resistance from the slaves.At the same time, the domestic land problem is prominent, and the bankrupt farmers who lost their land wander around, which intensifies the social unrest.Moreover, the shortage of soldiers also caused a crisis of the civil military system (in Rome, the proletarians were not allowed to serve in the army).In order to revitalize Rome, in the second half of the 2nd century BC, the Gracchi brothers resolutely launched a reform movement centered on solving land issues.

The Gracchi brothers had a prominent background, had received education in Greek Enlightenment thought, and were good at speeches.The eldest brother Tiberius Gracchus fought in Carthage when he was young, and later served as a treasurer in the Numantia War, and enjoyed a good reputation among the common people.In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune.After taking office, he proposed for the first time the land reform bill with the main content of restricting the occupation of land.Set quotas for tenants to rent state land, recover their excess land, and redistribute it to landless and landless Roman citizens.Each citizen's possession of state-owned land cannot exceed 1,000 yuge (about 250 hectares), and the excess part will be nationalized after the state pays the land price, and then divided into small pieces of land of 30 yuge each for landless civilians.To implement this reform, Tiberius Gracchus suggested the creation of a special committee of three persons empowered to deal with all questions concerning the repossession and distribution of land.

After the bill was proposed, it won the support of the common people, but it was opposed by the rich.They co-opted and bribed Tiberius Gracchi's fellow tribune, Octavian, and encouraged him to use his veto power to prevent the passage of the bill.But then the land bill passed with a majority vote.Octavian was removed from office.Tiberius himself, his 18-year-old brother Gaius Gracchus, and his father-in-law, Appian Claudius, one of the founders of the Act, were elected to a committee of three by the Tribus Assembly. Due to the difficulties of the rich and the complicated land relations, the work of the three-member committee to recover the common land was very difficult.That summer, Tiberius' one-year term as tribune was coming to an end.Tiberius was well aware of the significance of the authority of the Tribune for the implementation of reforms in the future, so he decided to run for the Tribune again.Unwilling to fail, the elder faction nobles framed Tiberius as a tyrant and beat him to death. More than 300 supporters were killed at the same time.

The blood of the reformers did not completely stop the cause of reform. The Senate was frightened by the dissatisfaction of the common people and did not dare to abolish the Land Commission openly.After the death of Tiberius, the Land Council was supplemented with new members and continued to work.Through their arduous efforts, the small peasant economy in Rome has been rapidly restored and developed. In 123 BC, Guyo Gracchus was elected tribune and followed Tiberius' reforms.Gayo is 9 years younger than Tibi. Like his elder brother, he is upright and strict in life.But the two are quite different in character and style.Tiberius was gentle, serious and sensible; Guyo was impatient, aggressive, and impassioned in his speeches, which was more attractive to the people and more dangerous to the aristocratic conservatives.Gayo's reform was not limited to the Land Act, but expanded and developed the reform movement.

After Gayo came to power, he introduced the land law and immigration law.The Land Law is largely a repetition of Tiberius' Land Law.In view of the fact that the territory of Rome could no longer meet the needs of the country's population growth, the immigration law stipulated that two settlements should be established in Naptunia in southern Italy and Carthage in North Africa.The members who participated in the immigration generally consisted of the wealthiest citizens.Other notable laws include: food law.Regular provision of food from the state treasury to the poor citizens of the cities at low cost or free of charge.

military service law.This law stipulates that no one under the age of 17 may be recruited into the army.All the uniforms used by the recruited soldiers are provided by the state. Provincial mandate law.This law stipulates that the Senate must specify the provinces where the consuls will serve overseas before they are elected. In addition, during his tenure as tribune, Gaio also proposed and implemented the Judgment Law and the Asia Minor Taxation Law.According to the Judgment Law, court jurors should not be appointed entirely by the Senate as before, but instead be appointed from the two ranks of knights and elders, with 300 each.According to the tax contracting law of the province of Asia, the newly acquired right to levy taxes in the Pergamum region was contracted to the knights, and 1/10 of the province's annual output was collected as tax.

However, Gaio's reforms were not perfect. He proposed to grant citizenship to some "allies" in Italy in order to win over a wider range of supporters.But this radical proposal was strongly opposed not only by the elders, but also by civilians who were unwilling to give power to the Italians.Losing the support of the populace, Guyo was unsuccessful in the election for tribune in the summer of 122 BC (the following year). So the revenge action planned by the elders and aristocrats began.During a meeting in Capitoline in 121 BC, the two sides clashed. Although Guyo and his supporters resisted stubbornly, they could not withstand the organized armed attack and more than 3,000 people were killed on the spot.Gayo fled into the jungle and committed suicide in despair.