Gracchi Brothers

Fall of the Roman Republic

I. Problems in the Late Republic

By 133 BC, Rome was the supreme power inthe Mediterranean world

I. Problems in the Late Republic

Political and social revolution began becauseof tensions between social classes

A. Social Unrest

133 BC - The Gracchi, brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, tried to resolve problems

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS (c.163-133 BC) GAIUS GRACCHUS (c.153-121 BC)

A. Social Unrest

Soldier/farmers returned from the Punic Warsto find their homes and farms destroyed

A. Social Unrest

The Gracchi instituted public reforms such as redistributing public land to the farmers

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus with their mother, Cornelia

A. Social Unrest

Both were elected tribunes, both were assassinated after angering the Senate

Death of Gaius Gracchus, 121 BC

Death of Tiberius Gracchus by members of the Roman

Senate, 133 BC

A. Social Unrest

Their deaths marked a turning point – violence, not law, began to control politics

Cornelia Refuses the Crown of the Ptolomai The daughter of Scipio Africanus and mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus -

refuses the crown of the King of Egypt and his marriage proposal.