Gracchi Brothers Series Art: Prelude & Conclusion (Patreon)

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus threw themselves into populist reforms, fearing that the increasingly oligarchical stranglehold on Roman politics would bring an end to the Republic they loved. Their methods may not always have been diplomatic, or even wise in the long term, but the accuracy of their observation was borne out by the collapse of the Republic less than a century after both of them tried (and failed) to change the city's course.

Some Romans honored them after their deaths, while others reviled them. Loved or hated, their memory looms large in the legacy of Rome. Perhaps their populist ways were a prelude for other reformers (Marius, Sulla, Catilina, Caesar), or perhaps their failure meant that the Republic now approached its inevitable conclusion. One way or the other, the daily life of Rome swirled around them, swept on like the waters of the Tiber River.