The Gracchi Brothers: Rome's First Populist Revolution

The Story of Italy: Rome, Renaissance, and the Birth of Modern Europe — Fexingo History · Jul 2, 2026 · 6m · transcript

In 133 BCE, a young Roman tribune named Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus proposed a radical land reform that would redistribute public land to the poor. His murder by senators set a chilling precedent. This episode explores the brief, explosive career of Tiberius and his brother Gaius Gracchus — the Gracchi — who challenged the ruling oligarchy with popular assemblies, grain subsidies, and judicial reforms. We dig into the Lex Sempronia agraria, the role of the concilium plebis, the mysterious death of Tiberius, and Gaius's dramatic end on the Aventine Hill. These were not revolutionaries…