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David L. Silverman | |
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David
L. Silverman, 1996
The
Gracchi :
The senate consisted of around 300 senators who owned land and
controlled elections and legislation through the patron/client
relationship. The senate was divided into two parties the Optimates
("aristocrats") and the Populares ("democrats"). The
parties were distinguished by their different ideologies. The Optimates
worked through the senate and traditional areas while the Populares
worked through the tribunate and popular assemblies. The growing class
of the equites had acquired increased influence with the growth of the
empire in 2BC and at times rivaled the Optimates and Populares. They
were legally allowed to practice business and did so mainly in the areas
of banking, mining, public works, and the supply of arms. Joining the
equites was an alternative to joining the senate. Farming was becoming
more profitable as the rich brought up a great deal of land and
exploited slave labor that was plentiful from overseas conquests. The
500-iugera limit was being widely ignored. Tiberius proposed to enforce
this law and confiscate all land that exceeded the limit. Compensation
was granted as the remaining 500 iugera would be untaxed. The
confiscated land would be distributed in 30 iugera lots to Roman
Citizens. Tiberius biased the senate and went directly to the concilium
plebes. Not all of the senate opposed him, his powerful senator friends
included P. Crassus, P. Mucius Scaevola, and Tiberius'
father-in-law Appius Claudius Pulcher. At first Octavius vetoed the
bill, but he was removed from office and the bill passed. It is not
likely that this was technically illegal, it’s just that no one knew
whether it was or not as it had never happened before. A commission of
three was established to ensure that the bill was to be carried out. On
this commission was Tiberius, his brother Gaius and his father in law. Many ancient sources believe Tiberius’ motive was it was a grudge he held against the senators though this is not likely as Tiberius had other means with which he could have got his revenge. Stoicism may have also played a part in his motives. Most likely it was a direct response to the underlying socioeconomic causes of the recent slave uprising in Sicily; the displacement of the small farmer, who was the backbone of the Roman army, had reached crisis proportions, and the results were all too visible in the mass of former ploughmen gravitating to the city. Optimates emerged as leader to the opposition of the Graccian party. They intended to prosecute him for illegally removing Octavius from office. Tiberius answered by standing for tribune for another year. This was strictly speaking legal but custom was against it. The elections deteriorated into a riot where Tiberius and many of his supporters were killed. The senate upheld the legality of his land bill after his death. A good case can be made out that the most offensive of all of Tiberius' actions was not the land bill, nor the iustitium (the suspension of public business, omitted by Appian and hence doubted by some modern writers), nor the deposition of his colleague Octavius, but his threat to encroach upon the senators' traditional prerogative in foreign affairs by referring the matter of the legacy of Attalus III to the popular assembly. |
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