Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/172

 FOURTH PERIOD.

THE OVERTHROW OF THE REPUBLIC AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW MONARCY, 133-44 B.C.

CHAPTER I.

THE REVOLUTION OF THE GRACCHI AND THE REACTION, 133-111 B.C.

I. The Economic Reform of Tiberius Gracchus.

The Problem of Economic Reform. — The political, economic, and moral decline of Rome was so evident that intelligent men could not but ask the question whether this state of things was capable of improvement. The chief danger lay in the impoverishment and decrease of the middle classes, who were absolutely essential, both as a safeguard against the increasing rabble and the numerous slaves and as the mainstay of the imperial dominion of Rome. Since the Romans were too selfish to concede citizenship to the Latins, the middle classes could, according to Roman precedents, be reinforced in the best and simplest way by assignments of public land to the poor and by the founding of colonies. But, with the exception of some lands that were leased, the desirable public domain in Italy had already been distributed or occupied. To be sure, the poor citizens might be settled in the provinces, but this would not restore Italian agriculture; and, since Italy was to remain the