#Tiberius gracchus

[duxfemina]

If you were going to pin the BEGINNING of the downfall of the Roman Republic on the actions of one Roman

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

It is a beautiful day in the curia, and you are a horrible tribune.

[pomp-quio]

Some people collect stamps. I collect accounts of Plutarch’s Life of Caius Gracchus 1.6., where T. Gracchus appears to his younger brother and dooms his narrative

Translation by John Dryden, source

Loeb Classical Library edition, source

Translation by Aubrey Stewart & George Long, source

Penguin Classics, Translation by Ian Scott-Kilvert 

[marcusagrippa]

'what if we gave some land to the poor so they can farm it and make sure the city doesnt starve' what if i beat you to death with a wooden bench

[museofpangolins]

i have this voice in my brain singing "I'm a Gracchi girl in a Gracchi world" over and over again please send help

[sifuhotthem]

Rip Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus, you would have loved socialism

[stuartbramhall]

Rome and Roads from the West

Rome and Roads from the West

Episode 17: Rome and Roads from the West Foundations of Eastern Civilization Dr Craig Benjamin (2013) Film Review I found this lecture valuable due to surprising insights on Roman history I’ve never encountered before. Benjamin traces the collapse of republican rule in Rome to the economic collapse it experienced following its 16- year battle with the Carthaginian general Hannibal. During his…

[gameofthrones2020]

Murder of Tiberius Gracchus

The murder of Tiberius Gracchus and why it was the being of the fall of the Rome Empire and why it's so relevant to modern-day political failures

The murder of Tiberius Gracchus is one of history’s most significant murders and events that contributed to and marked the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire when Tiberius was murdered in 133 BC and his brother, Gaius Gracchus, was murdered in 121 BC. The Roman Senate murdered both Gracchus’s brothers, with Tiberius himself beaten to death by Roman senators, similar to Gaius Julius…

[eleventhjove]

the assassination of Tiberius Gracchus (133 BC)

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician, elected as plebeian tribune (an office originally set up to protect the interests of the common people) in 133 BC. The same year, he was beaten to death along with his supporters in a riot sparked by his opponents. Gracchus' death commonly marks a key turning point and the beginning of the fall of the Roman Republic.

(1553 depiction of Tiberius Gracchus in Guillaume Rouille's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum)

According to Plutarch in his The Parallel Lives, Tiberius was more gentle, reasonable, and agreeable, while his younger brother Caius was fierier and more high-tempered. Nevertheless, when it came to "bravery in the face of the enemy, just dealings with subject peoples, scrupulous fidelity in public office, and restraint in pleasurable indulgence", the brothers were the same. Their father, also named TIberius Gracchus, was a Roman consul and a member of one of Rome's leading families, the gens Sempronia. Their mother, Cornelia, was a political and cultural figure, and the daughter of Scipio Africanus, the man who defeated Hannibal during the Second Punic War.

Prior to his political career, Tiberius served in the military and won renown for his courage, being one of the first to scale the enemy fortifications in Carthage during the Third Punic War. His individual merit, as well as his status and birth, allowed him to be elected as tribune of the people in 133 BC.

Tiberius proposed a new agrarian law: under it, no citizen was allowed to hold more than 500 jugera (around 330 acres) of ager publicus, i.e. state-owned land that had been acquired during wars. Excess land would be confiscated and redistributed among the poor. The law was vehemently opposed by the Senate, as it would result in many senators losing their land and thus the source of their wealth.

The law was eventually passed, but in the process Tiberius had to depose another tribune, Marcus Octavius, and animosity began to build against Tiberius. He sought re-election as tribune, an unprecendented move as re-election had not been practiced for 300 years, and a move that some saw as illegal.

During elections, Tiberius was told that he was to be assassinated, causing him to place his hands on his head. His enemies interpreted this as his desire to wear a crown and become king, and this news was carried to the Senate. Enraged, a posse of senators and their supporters, led by Tiberius' cousin Scipio Nasica, rushed to where Tiberius was observing the elections. Armed with stools, stones, clubs, and various weapons, they beat Tiberius and his supporters to death.

(The Death of Tiberius Gracchus by Lodovico Pogliaghi, circa 1890)

Tiberius Gracchus' actual motivation for his actions is disputed. Some argue that he was genuinely trying to make reforms and help the poor, while others argue he was exploiting social concerns and trying to gain power for himself.

Tiberius was succeeded by his brother Caius, who continued to make social reforms. In 121 BC, Caius was also killed (or committed suicide, sources give varying accounts), although this time with explicit Senate approval.

part 2/25 of a series introducing the assassinations outlined in Francis John's 1903 book, Famous Assassinations of History from Philip of Macedon, 336 B.C., to Alexander of Servia, A.D. 1903

[catilinas]

‘kill them with kindness’ WRONG. senate benches 🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Ancient Roman trading cards: Tribune Trouble!

Historical notes and artist attributions under the cut. For more silly trading cards, check out the Julio-Claudians.

Many famous Romans were tribunes of the plebs at some point, but I'm only featuring those who pushed that office to its limit, usually by causing trouble.

My aim here is to capture some of their personality while making history fun and silly. So, some of these facts come from ancient sources that might be biased or wrong, but I have tried to keep it plausible. Some of the art has been adapted from paintings of other Romans because it felt fitting for these guys. If you want to learn more about them, check out my favorite Roman history books!

Background color = highest office achieved. Orange for quaestors and tribunes, yellow for aediles, green for praetors, blue for consuls, purple for emperors and red for dictators. Everybody else gets gray.

Paintings featured:

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi by Joseph-Benoit Suvée

Farewell of Gaius Gracchus to his family by Dióscoro Puebla

Cato Uticensis by Josef Abel

Lictors bringing Brutus the bodies of his sons by Jacques-Louis David

Marcus Aurelius by Eugene Delacroix

A Roman Feast by Roberto Bompiani

Other art textures come from the frescoes of Pompeii.

[thefollowersofthedivinesnake]

My webcomic characters ft. the historical characters they were close to!

[quantumshade]

ancient roman seinfeld

jerry: so why did they try to kill you?

george: well you see jerry, flavius flaccus told me the senate was trying to kill me and i panicked

jerry: you panicked.

george: yes! i panicked, and i motioned to my followers like [makes hand gesture that looks very much like a crown]

jerry: well what did you do that for??

george: what do you mean? i was asking for help!

jerry: george. it looks like you asked the senate for a crown.

george: what? no way, that's not what i--

kramer: [bursts in covered in blood and holding a dead chicken] you guys would not BELIEVE what the augur said about me today

[beholdingslut]

i have read casisus dio 48 more than any other primary source in my LIFEEEEEE and i have 1.75 degrees in classics

[surprisearson]

Given the love for the Ides of March, I think the Gracchi brothers would do amazing on Tumblr. If you liked the senate stabbing a man, I can only assume a man and his 300 followers getting clubbed to death with stools after some of the boldest political fuckery in the Republic is the next big thing