A Republic of Troubles

MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES HIST 1301 | History A Republic of Troubles The republic faced several social, political, and economic issues as a result of Rome's ceaseless conquests and wars in the third and second century BCE. As the Roman populace became disillusioned with the Senate and the nobility, they began to turn more and more to powerful military figures to solve their issues. Numerous elements had a part in these issues and changes. The majority of Roman people have owned and run small family farms since the republic's founding. It is true that men had to be landowners in order to be Roman soldiers. But this old institution had been stressed by the Punic Wars. Roman troops sometimes spent extended amounts of time away from home, leaving women and children to take care of their properties. Many returned to find their belongings in the hands of someone else. Some chose to sell their run-down farms and relocate their families to Rome, which was developing at the time. There, they became part of the proletariat, the burgeoning group of landless workers. Rome may have had more than a million residents by the first century BCE. The Roman political system was upended by the rise of the proletariat, which also encouraged widespread corruption. Due to the fact that landless Romans could resolve property issues without the help of patrons, the old patron-client system fell apart. Therefore, in order to gain the favour of the urban populace, politicians had to offer free food, entertainment (like as gladiatorial bouts), and assurances that their public works initiatives would generate jobs. To intimidate their political enemies, some even formed violent gangs out of impoverished people. Widespread discontent with the republic's administration was the outcome of these circumstances. Large landowners purchased property from impoverished Roman farmers and leased public land from the Roman government to establish expansive plantations in order to supply the expanding need for grain, wine, and olive oil to feed the urban population. Due to the ease with which landowners could acquire the many enslaved individuals, they were extremely profitable. For instance, as retaliation for Epirus's alliance with Perseus in the war, the Romans sold 150,000 citizens of that kingdom into slavery following Perseus of Macedon's defeat in 168 BCE. People were also abducted throughout the eastern Mediterranean by pirates from the Greek island of Crete and the southeast Turkish region of Cilicia, who then sold them to Roman dealers. In the second century BCE, the Aegean Sea island of Delos developed into a vast human marketplace where ten thousand individuals were allegedly purchased and sold every day. Enslaved people began to revolt in large numbers in the second part of the second century BCE as a result of appalling labour conditions. The most well-known was commanded by the gladiator Spartacus, a slave from Thrace (present-day Bulgaria). Thousands upon thousands of gladiators rose up in support of Spartacus and other captive fighters against their masters in 76 BCE. Two Roman armies were routed by Spartacus's soldiers before to their fall in 71 BCE. To send a warning to those who held slaves throughout Italy, the Romans executed hundreds of the rebels along the country's main thoroughfares. Not only were the oppressed and proletariat dissatisfied with the leadership of the previous elite, but so were the emerging affluent groups in Rome. For these young Roman businesspeople, operating as bankers and public contractors—also known as publicans—was the most lucrative endeavour. The republic depended on publicans to run government-owned mines, collect taxes, and build public works like theatres and aqueducts. When publicans extracted more taxes from the provinces' populace, Roman authorities frequently turned a blind eye. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, two of the most fascinating political characters of the Late Republic, rose to prominence as a result of this turbulent and complex environment. The brothers they are collectively called the Gracchi were plebians whose grandpa, Scipionio Africanus, had come from a family of elite members for many years. The fact that foreign slaves were labouring on the vast estates instead of Roman farmers alarmed Tiberius, the older brother. Because Rome relied on its landowner farmers to armament and military service, he believed that Rome's military was in jeopardy. As a tribune, he put up a bill in 133 BCE to give land to Romans who were without land. The senatorial elite, many of whom had amassed vast tracts of property once held by independent farmers who had fought in wars, was severely harmed by this action. The assembly decided to adopt the plan, but many senators were appalled because Tiberius had broken Republic customs in order to win the vote, in addition to the fact that they stood to lose territory. The ruling classes governed the Republic, and the brothers had challenged elite dominance over major governmental institutions by appealing to the populace. Tiberius was beaten to death by a gang of senators after the Senate proclaimed a state of emergency because they believed he was assuming too much public support and going against Roman customs. Gaius, the brother of Tiberius and a shrewd politician, was elected tribune ten years later. His idea to found new colonies to provide them with land helped him win over the impoverished Roman farmers. Along with advocating for new public works initiatives to provide jobs for the working class and lucrative contracts for affluent publicans, he also gave free grain to the impoverished. His policies were approved by the Plebian Assembly. In defiance of Roman political custom, Gaius was also chosen tribune for a continuous two years. Gaius's plan to create a new judicial system with the ability to try senators for corruption proved to be the last straw for the Senate. The senators moved to subjugate Gaius in 121 BCE. He made an effort to defy the Senate by using force, but in the end, the senators who had opposed his ascent to power slaughtered his followers, and he perished either by his own hand or theirs.