Topic > Tiberius and Gaius Gracchi: Initiators of the Roman Republic...

Although the Gracchi were motivated by a genuine concern for the well-being of Rome, ultimately their actions (and the events surrounding them) contributed to the decline of the Republic. -Evaluate the validity of this statement. In the period in which Tiberius and Gaius Gracchi gained power thanks to the vote of the popular assembly, Rome was already in crisis, one of the reasons due to the decrease in the armed forces. Thus, although the Gracchi were motivated by genuine concern for the well-being of Rome, ultimately their actions (and the events surrounding them) contributed to the decline of the Republic, but did not play a significant role. These ambitious brothers understood that changes needed to be made before the situation worsened; their land reform ideas were one of many goals/ideas and therefore actions taken in an attempt to improve the overall structure of their state's society. Some of these even marked a turning point in Roman political history, ultimately making the Gracchi brothers revolutionaries of Rome. Tiberius Gracchus, the eldest of the Gracchi brothers, was nevertheless motivated by a genuine concern for the well-being of Rome, and his reformist ideas and actions (and the events surrounding them) ultimately contributed to the decline of the Republic. The most significant of Tiberius' reforms was the idea of ​​redistributing lands in an attempt to recruit the army. This is because according to [], "traditionally, legionary soldiers were recruited among men who owned some land". This fact is also confirmed by Koutsoukis, who writes that “the recruitment area of ​​the national army has shrunk alarmingly” and also that “there has been a rapid increase in unemployment”. All of this would have been the result of a "prolonged campaign abroad"... middle of paper... by the Romans, who questioned their motives for doing what they did and "plotted to get rid of him" (Koutsoukis) Although the Gracchi brothers were guided by a genuine concern for the well-being of their city, ultimately their actions (and the events surrounding them) contributed to, but were not the cause of, Rome's decline. They had real reasons to contribute to Rome and attempt to correct its problems, and although their reformist ideas were by no means mild, they ultimately did not count for the collapse of the Roman republic. These ideas were primarily focused on redistributing land in order to recruit the dwindling army. So, since these were unprecedented and furthermore, established by wealthy aristocrats who otherwise would have had no reason to worry, this made Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus the initiators of the Roman Revolution..