Gaius Gracchus
Videos
Page
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish colonies outside of Italy, engage in further land reform, reform the judicial system and system for provincial assignments, and create a subsidised grain supply for Rome.
A bust of Gaius from a 19th century commemorative sculpture of the Gracchi brothers by Eugène Guillaume
Depiction of Gaius addressing the concilium plebis.
The Death of Gaius Gracchus, by François Topino-Lebrun, 1792.
Senatus consultum ultimum
Videos
Page
The senatus consultum ultimum is the modern term given to resolutions of the Roman Senate lending its moral support for magistrates to use the full extent of their powers and ignore the laws to safeguard the state.
A 1792 depiction of the death of Gaius Gracchus, who was driven to suicide after the passage against him of the first senatus consultum ultimum in 121 BC.
A senatus consultum ultimum was decreed against Octavian, pictured in a later bust, which became unenforceable when the senate's forces defected to Octavian's side.