Following this Tiberius stood for tribune a second time, but all the rich went crazy, and so Tiberius was killed during a riot.
Ten years later, Gaius Gracchus, the younger brother, was elected a tribune. He made new laws that gave cheaper grain to the poor and more power t the people’s assemblies. After more laws led to violence, Gaius was also killed and thousands of his followers were executed!
The Gracchus brothers were killed because they stood to take away from the rich and to give to the poor, and so the rich were ready to defend their privileges, by violence!
However Rome continued to expand its empire, through Gaius Marius who reformed the Roman Army. He changed it to just land owners, but then changed it to everybody who wanted to enlist, he supplied them with weapons, and the army was b-very successful.
But, before long, in 91BCE, a tribune, Marcus Livius Drusus proposed a law giving Italian citizenship to all cities allied to Rome. The Senate rejected it and Drusus was killed.
Disappointed because they no longer had the chance to become Roman citizens. The Italian allies revolted against the Roman leaders, and began the ‘Social War’. The allied forces were well trained, and the Romans suffered heavy losses. The war eventually ended with the Romans giving the allies full citizenship.
But now Rome faced a bigger problem, A Civil War, the first in Roman History. I 88BCE, a young consul, called Sulla, had been given an army to fight Mithridates, the king of Pontus. But at the last moment, the command was switched to General Marius. In fury, Sulla turned and led his troops into Rome. Marius was forced into exile, and his supporters were executed.
After Marius had fled, Sulla marched his troops to Pontus to fight Mithridates. But, while Sulla was away, Marius came back and took control of Rome, and murdered lots of Sulla’s supporters. Marius died in 86BCE, but when Sulla returned, he found that Marius’ men were in charge. Sulla fled Rome, but returned three years later, and took terrible revenge! Sulla devastated the land, executed the rich because they were wealthy, and throughout all of this he maintained that he was only defending Rome from its enemies. He made himself dictator, and even though peace eventually returned to Rome, nobody ever forgot the bloodbath at the beginning of his reign.
