How The Roman Republic Fell - Analysis of Gracchi & The Roman Republic

Courtesy of the website Factsnippet

As the Roman Republic began to come into its hegemony over the Mediterranean. It began to have civil conflicts around the future of the Republic. This supposedly began with the conflict of the orders; however, the more concrete beginning can be placed with the struggle begun by the Gracchi brothers. One of the most important and overlooked effects of how this changed Roman politics is the change to civil attitudes.

During the conflict, which the Gracchi took part in violence became a more prominent feature in the social sphere. This can be seen with the usage of thugs by each side at the ballot. This is due to the Gracchi's influence; each side began to break the once agreed upon social norms in which Roman society operated. This ended up being a slippery slope in which each side would push it farther. One reason this can be believed to have happened is the attitude that if you would not act fast enough, you would lose the political initiative and be on the losing side.

One of the key starting points of this can be seen in the deposing of Octavian. This significant act occurred during the debate over the Lex Agraria, a significant piece of legislation pursued by Tiberius Gracchus. The conflict was because Tiberius Gracchus, who was a tribune of the plebs, pushed this legislation and Octavian, a fellow Tribune, vetoed it. Octavian, when refusing under any circumstance to alter his veto which was not in the interests of his constituent, Tiberius Gracious deposed him.

This was seen as a monumental act in the Roman political sphere. These kinds of actions would politically damage Tiberius Gracchus and later his brother when he entered the political sphere. Tiberius Gracchus would meet his end due to an event which is very much connected to this. When Tiberius ran for election of the tribunate again he would be assassinated as his opponents feared him doing similar moves in the future. This brought something while not unheard of to Roman Politics, more to the forefront which was political violence. Political violence was brought following Tiberius Gracchus's assassination against his followers in an attempt to prevent any Romans from following in his footsteps.

Although, this did not stop his younger brother from attempting to and using the now unleashed political violence against his enemies. This would lead to the death of the second Gracchi brother. This second death however would expand this already existing violence even further. This can be seen as where the violence of the Caesarian era began. Many of these leaders who began the violence believed foolishly that once they defeated their opponents it would come to an end, however the rest of Roman political history shows how wrong they were.

This is because once political violence has begun it cannot be ended.

Written by NewJerseyRoundhead - Writer for The Radical Times Media & News Cooperative