The Gracchus brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, as tribunes attempted to help the poor Romans by creating farms on illegally obtained public land to keep them happy and avoid rebellion. However, this angered the wealthy and led to both brothers being killed, showing violence could be used to enact political change. Later, Marius encouraged the poor to join the army, swelling its size, while Sulla came to power through military success but then had Marius exiled, leading to civil war. Spartacus then led a major slave revolt but was defeated, with many slaves executed to demonstrate the consequences of rebellion.

1. Social Studies for 9th EBG –Teacher: Mauricio Torres
Crises Strike the Republic

2. • As the roman territory grew, so did the problems.
• The rich were getting richer and many leaders feared that violence
between rich and poor would erupt.
Problems

3. • The first leaders to address the Roman problems were the Gracchus
brothers.
• The both served as tribunes, at different periods.
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

4. • Tiberius took office in 133 BC. He wanted to create farms for the poor
peasants. He did this in order to keep the poor happy and avoid
rebellions.
• The problem was, that the land was to be taken over from public land that
was illegally taken by wealthy citizens.
• Therefore the poor were in favor of this measure, but the rich were not!
• This led to some riots in which Tiberius was killed.
Tiberius Gracchus

5. • Some years later, Gaius attempted the same reforms as his brother.
• But he also lowered the price of food for poor citizens.
• Once again, this angered the powerful Romans, and he was also killed.
• The death of both brothers gave the romans a new perspective on politics:
violence could bring change!
Gaius Gracchus

6. • In the late 100s, the roman army was
facing a grave challenge: the desperate
need for recruits. Since only roman
citizens could join the army and during a
war soldiers were killed, they were
becoming scarce in wars of expansion.
• Gaius Marius, a consul and brilliant
commander, encouraged poor people to
join the army.
• This way, thousands of poor and
unemployed men, joined the
ranks, swelling the size of the army.
• Due to his leadership skills, his soldiers
were more loyal to him and with this
support, he gained more political power.
Gaius Marius

7. • Following Marius’s example, Sulla
became consul in 88 BC.
• He had served brilliantly in the army
(even under Marius) and was
awarded the highest honors a Roman
soldier could receive.
• He soon came into conflict with
Marius, which led to a civil war.
• A civil war is a conflict between
citizens of the same country.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla

8. Sulla
Gaius Marius
Civil War
He was exiled from Rome and declared a public
enemy. But as soon as Sulla left the city, he came
back, was elected consul but died shortly after.
Before that, he fought against Sulla for Rome.
He is also remembered for mass killings inside Rome.
While fighting in Asia, both foreign and local
enemies, he returned to Rome after Cinna (the other
consul) had died. Yet he still met supporters of Marius
who battled him outside of Rome, defeating them.
He was elected dictator, for an unlimited period of
time!
He persecuted many rivals and also spared
some, including a young man named Julius Caesar

9. • Shortly after Sulla died, another crisis arose: thousands of slaves revolted
and demanded their freedom.
• They were lead by a former gladiator named Spartacus.
• The rebellious slaves were very successful at first, and actually defeated a
Roman army which was sent to stop them. They took over much of
southern Italy in the process.
• After Spartacus was killed in battle, the revolt fell apart.
• The Romans, executed 6,000 of the rebellious slaves as an example to
other who thought about rebelling.
Spartacus

10. • In the late Republic, the
Romans faced new
problems and had
different solutions for
each.
• But from each
problem, new lessons
were learned, which
would be remembered
through history, by
Romans themselves.
Three different stages of change:

11. Ask Yourself
• Describe:
• How did the Gracchus bros. try to help the poor Romans?
• Explain:
• Why was violence more common after the Gracchus than before?
• Analyze:
• Why might it be a problem if a nation’s army is more loyal to the leaders
than to the government?
• How did Sulla turn what he had learned from Marius against him?
• Evaluate:
• Why might have some Romans consider Spartacus a hero and other an
enemy?

12. Bibliography
Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher s Edition)
(1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P. Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.
Images taken from www.google.com