The agrarian reforms of the Graco are a set of laws proposed in Rome by the brothers: Tiberius and Gaius Graco, a member of the Graco family, which caused a stir in Italy because it favored the peasants and harmed the affluent class. Tiberio Graco was the first to elaborate the agrarian reform project, which ceded to the peasants, plots located on public lands.
Due to the Roman conquests made on the Mediterranean, a large number of rural families were economically harmed, so they had to emigrate to large cities, leaving their crops abandoned. The wealthy class, taking advantage of the situation, ended up acquiring most of these lands. The peasants, for their part, had to go to live in the city of Rome, where they dedicated themselves to working as servants.
All this situation is what motivated Tiberio Graco to formulate the agrarian reform, using his position as tribune of the plebs. Said project immediately generated opposition among the latifundista sector, but it was totally approved by the poor, which obviously promoted its approval.
Among the requests requested by the Graco brothers were:
- That the lands were distributed between the proletariat and the discharged soldiers.
- The establishment of soldiers in the colonies.
- Grant Roman citizenship to Italians and Latinos.
- Give the right to the knights to belong to the courts that carried out trials on the crimes committed by the Roman magistrates against the provincials.
Despite all that Tiberius did to carry out all these changes, the opposition managed to prevail and ended up killing Tiberius along with his men, during a popular assembly.
Gaius Graco, brother of Tiberius, managed to be reelected as tribune of the plebs and decides to risk continuing with the work of his deceased brother, mainly because of the feeling of revenge he felt and not for defending the rights of the plebs.
Cayo in the same way promoted the establishment of new colonies in Italy, made improvements in the provision of military service, also improved the supply of wheat to Rome. He increased taxes and customs duties on wealthy Asian provinces in order to raise funds. He also stripped the nobles of their judicial power and handed it over to the knights. Finally, he presents a project that grants Roman citizenship to everyone who lives in Italy.
All this made the opposition that was in the Senate threatened their privileges, so Cayó had to flee, however, he cannot escape his destiny and ends up murdered along with his men.
