The Lex Sempronia Agraria
Seeking to improve the lot of the poor, Tiberius Gracchus proposed a law known as Lex Sempronia Agraria. The law would reorganize control of the ager publicus, or public land; meaning land conquered in previous wars that was controlled by the state. Previous agrarian law specified that no citizen would be allowed to possess more than 500 jugera (that is, approximately 125 hectares) of the ager publica and any land that they occupied above this limit would be confiscated by the state. However this law was largely ignored and rich landowners continued to acquire land through fictitious tenants initially before transferring the land directly to themselves. They then began to work it with slave labour, giving rise to latifundia, alienating and impoverishing free Roman citizens.
The 500 jugera limit was a reiteration of previous land laws, such as the Licinian Laws passed in 367 BC, which had been enacted but never enforced. As it stood in Tiberius Gracchus's time, a good deal of this land was held in farms far in excess of 500 iugera by large landholders who had settled or rented the property in much earlier time periods, even several generations back. Sometimes it had been leased, rented, or resold to other holders after the initial sale or rental.
Tiberius saw that reform was needed. He met with three prominent leaders: Crassus, the Pontifex Maximus, the consul and jurist Publius Mucius Scaevola, and Appius Claudius, his father-in-law. Together, the men formulated a law which would have fined those who held more of their allotted land and require them to forfeit illegal possessions to the ager publicus, for which they would be compensated. The people simply wanted assurances of future protection, but the senatorial elites opposed the law, claiming Tiberius was seeking a redistribution of wealth, thereby shaking the foundations of the Republic and inciting social revolution. He proposed his law in 134 BC, and to mollify these landowners, they would be allowed to own their land rent free, and would be entitled to 250 jugera per son, above the legal limit. They would also be paid for the land they had to forfeit.
Furthermore, Tiberius Gracchus called for the redistribution of the re-confiscated public land to the poor and homeless in Rome, giving them plots of 30 iugera upon which to support themselves and their families, not to mention that the redistributed wealth would make them eligible for taxation and military service. Thus the law sought to solve the twin problems of increasing the number of men eligible for military service (thereby boosting Rome's military strength) and also providing for homeless war veterans.
The Senate and its conservative elements were strongly against the Sempronian agrarian reforms, with most of their hostility due to Tiberius’ highly unorthodox method of passing the reforms. Because Tiberius clearly knew the Senate wouldn’t approve his reforms, he sidestepped the Senate altogether by going straight to the Concilium Plebis (the Popular Assembly) which supported his measures. This was neither against the law or even against tradition (Mos Maiorum), but it was certainly insulting to the Senate and it alienated Senators who otherwise might have shown support.
However, any tribune could veto a proposal, preventing it from being laid before the Assembly. In an effort to stop Tiberius, the Senate persuaded Marcus Octavius, another tribune, to use his veto to prevent the submission of the bills to the Assembly. Gracchus then moved that Octavius, should be immediately deposed, arguing that Octavius as a tribune acted contrary to the wishes of his constituents. Octavius, Tiberius reasoned, violated a basic tenet of the office of the tribune, which was to ensure the protection of the people from any political or economic oppression by the Senate. Octavius remained resolute. The people began to vote to depose Octavius, but he vetoed their actions as was his legal right as tribune. Tiberius, consigning himself to the worst situation, had him forcefully removed from the meeting place of the Assembly and proceeded with the vote to depose him.
These actions violated Octavius' right of sacrosanctity and worried Tiberius' supporters, and so instead of moving to depose him, Tiberius commenced to use his veto on daily ceremonial rites in which Tribunes were asked if they would allow for key public buildings, for example the markets and the temples, to be opened. In this way he effectively shut down the entire city of Rome, including all businesses, trade and production, until the Senate and the Assembly passed the laws. The Assembly, fearing for Tiberius's safety, formed a guard around Tiberius and frequently escorted him home.
Tiberius justified the expulsion of Octavius by stating that a tribune was
sacred and inviolable, because he was consecrated to the people and was a champion of the people... If, then he should change about, wrong the people, maim its power, and rob it of the privilege of voting, he has by his own acts deprived himself of his honourable office by not fulfilling the conditions on which he received it; for otherwise there would be no interference with a tribune even though he should try to demolish the Capitol or set fire to the naval arsenal. If a tribune does these things, he is a bad tribune; but if he annuls the power of the people, he is no tribune at all... And surely, if it is right for him to be made tribune by a majority of the votes of the tribes, it must be even more right for him to be deprived of his tribuneship by a unanimous vote.
According to Appian, a slightly different version of events is presented. Tiberius Gracchus only moved to have Marcus Octavius removed from office after a vote was put to the Assembly. In Appian's version, after 17 of the 35 tribes voted in favor of Tiberius, Tiberius implored Octavius to step aside lest he be deprived of his office. When Octavius refused, the 18th tribe votes in favor of Tiberius, giving him the majority and the resolution, which included both his land law and the abrogation of Octavius' office, passed. It was only after this, according to Appian, that Octavius slinked away unnoticed and was replaced as tribune by Quintus Memmius. This version effectively mitigates the accusation that Tiberius ever laid hands on an inviolate person such as Octavius, instead showing that Tiberius won his support with full legality.
Having passed his law, Tiberius was lauded as a founding hero not just of a single city or race, but as the founding hero of all the Italians, who had come to endure immense poverty and deprivation, denied of their rightful land because of their military services and having lost work because of the influx of slaves, who were loyal to no man while citizens were loyal to the state. In Appian's account, Tiberius Gracchus is seen as a popular hero, and there is not any account given regarding Tiberius' justification for deposing Octavius.
The Senate gave trivial funds to the agrarian commission that had been appointed to execute Tiberius' laws. This commission was composed entirely of members of Tiberius' family, including Appius Claudius, his father-in-law, Tiberius and his brother Gaius. This, of course, did little to soothe the bitterness between the Gracchi and the Senate, and the Senate and conservatives took every opportunity to hamper, delay and slander Tiberius. However, late in 133 BC, king Attalus III of Pergamum died and left his entire fortune (including the whole kingdom of Pergamum) to Rome. Tiberius saw his chance and immediately used his tribunician powers to allocate the fortune to fund the new law. This was a direct attack on Senatorial power, since it was the Senate which was traditionally responsible for the management of the treasury and for decisions regarding overseas affairs. The opposition of the Senate to Tiberius Gracchus' policies increased. Quintus Pompeius addressed the Senate and said that he "was a neighbour of Tiberius, and therefore knew that Eudemus of Pergamum had presented Tiberius with a royal diadem and a purple robe, believing that he was going to be king in Rome." Pompeius's fears were reflective of a growing number of senators who were afraid that Tiberius was claiming too much power for himself. They feared that Tiberius was seeking to become King of Rome, a loathed office which had been dismantled with the ousting of the Tarquins and the establishment of the Republic. Such fears tipped the Senate from hatred and paranoia into committing the first outright bloodshed in Republican politics.
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