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Home»Articles»Rethinking the Option of Violence in Politics and the Fate of Tiberius Gracchus

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Asian Review of Social Sciences (ARSS)

Editor Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan
Print ISSN : 2249 – 6319
Frequency : Quarterly

Rethinking the Option of Violence in Politics and the Fate of Tiberius Gracchus

Author : Gill Oluwatosin Adekannbi
Volume 8 No.3 July-December 2019 pp 25-31

Abstract

The killing of Tiberius Gracchus along with hundreds of his supporters in factional violence has left an imprint of moral controversy. When perpetuated by the aggrieved or oppressed masses, violence is seen as an act of aggression or rebellion. However, it tends to be termed political expediency when initiated by the ruling power or its agency. Using interpretive approach, this paper sets aside justifying the murdering of Tiberius as removal of a potential tyrant who was causing public disturbance. The research, after highlighting how violence became imminent when other legitimate efforts at resolving political conflicts failed, shifts to the moral question arising from resorting to violence as the ultimate tool for achieving a political goal. Corrupt members of the Roman Senate and their supporters would share the view: ‘so perish also all others who do such things’. However, the paper notes the benefits of Tiberius’ agrarian reforms to the poor citizens and the potential benefits of the changes to the state. The conclusion is: the champion of the people had acted well enough but inconclusively to reach his goals. It remained for him and his supporters to stand against being outmaneuvered by the corrupt politicians. If violence had been used by Tiberius and his followers against the senate to succeed, the common people would have declared this as both morally justifiable and politically expedient. Hence, it is theorised that, when moral questions are unanswered in politics, violence looms and no one may have the monopoly of it.

Keywords

Political Violence, Roman Republic, Tiberius Gracchus, Morality, Expediency

Full Text:

References

[1] Appian. (1899). The Civil Wars. Horace White, Ed.London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
[2] Brenda, J. L. & James M. L. (2006). Political Violence in the Republic of Rome: Nothing New under the Sun. Government and Opposition, 41(4), 491–511.
[3] Raaflaub, K. A. (1986). Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: New Perspectives on the Conflict of Orders, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[4] Lintott, A. W. (1970). The Tradition of Violence in the Annals of the Early Roman Republic Historia: ZeitschriftfürAlte Geschichte, Bd. 19, H. 1, 12-29.
[5] Lintott, A. W. (1990). Electoral Bribery in the Roman Republic. The Journal of Roman Studies, 80, 1-16
[6] Livy, T. (1990). The History of Rome, Book 4. Canon Roberts, Ed. Retrieved from http://www.perseus. tufts.edu/hopper/text.
[7] Livy, T. (1905). The History of Rome, Vol. 1. Canon Roberts trans. Retrieved from http://mcadams.posc. mu.edu/txt/ah/Livy/.
[8] Livy, T. (1919). The History of Rome, Book 1 Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ed.Cambridge. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[9] Sherwin-White, A. (1956). Violence in Roman Politics. Journal of Roman Studies, 46(1-2), 1-9. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10. 2307/jcd.297959.
[10] Yakobson, A. (1992). ‘Petitioet Largitio: Popular Participation in the Centuriate Assembly of the Later Republic’, Journal of Roman Studies, 82, 32-52. Retrieved from https://doi.org 10.2307/jcd.301283
[11] Polybius. (1889). Histories. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, trans. London: Macmillan.
[12] Plutarch, L. M. (1921). The Parallel Lives The Life of Tiberius Gracchus. Retrieved from http://penelope. uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/ roman/texts/plutarch/lives/tiberius_gracchus.

Asian Review of Social Sciences (ARSS) is a quarterly international peer-reviewed journal of Social Sciences. One of the objectives of this journal is to disseminate knowledge on various research issues connected with the topics include, but are not limited to:

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The killing of Tiberius Gracchus along with hundreds of his supporters in factional violence has left an imprint of moral controversy. When perpetuated by the aggrieved or oppressed masses, violence is seen as an act of aggression or rebellion. However, it tends to be termed political expediency when initiated by the ruling power or its agency. Using interpretive approach, this paper sets aside justifying the murdering of Tiberius as removal of a potential tyrant who was causing public disturbance. The research, after highlighting how violence became imminent when other legitimate efforts at resolving political conflicts failed, shifts to the moral question arising from resorting to violence as the ultimate tool for achieving a political goal. Corrupt members of the Roman Senate and their supporters would share the view: ‘so perish also all others who do such things’. However, the paper notes the benefits of Tiberius’ agrarian reforms to the poor citizens and the potential benefits of the changes to the state. The conclusion is: the champion of the people had acted well enough but inconclusively to reach his goals. It remained for him and his supporters to stand against being outmaneuvered by the corrupt politicians. If violence had been used by Tiberius and his followers against the senate to succeed, the common people would have declared this as both morally justifiable and politically expedient. Hence, it is theorised that, when moral questions are unanswered in politics, violence looms and no one may have the monopoly of it.

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Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Applied Sciences, Dhofar University, Oman
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Department of Social Administration and Justice, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Department of Geography, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Dr. Haris Bin Abd Wahab
Department of Social Administration and Justice, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Dr. Mohana Dass Ramasamy
Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Dr. Ma Tin Cho Mar @ Noorjahan Bi Bi
Department of South East Asian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Dr. Asbah Binti Razali
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Malaya, Malaysia
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Dr. Azharudin Bin Mohamed Dali
Department of History, University of Malaya, Malaysia
[email protected]
Dr. Hasmah Binti Zanuddin
Department of Media Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
[email protected]

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    Editorial Note

    Editorial Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan

    Editor-in-Chief
    Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan
    Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Applied Sciences, Dhofar University, Oman
    [email protected]
    Editorial Advisory Board
    Dr. Mashitah Binti Hamidi
    Department of Social Administration and Justice, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Jillian Ooi Lean Sim
    Department of Geography, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Haris Bin Abd Wahab
    Department of Social Administration and Justice, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Mohana Dass Ramasamy
    Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Ma Tin Cho Mar @ Noorjahan Bi Bi
    Department of South East Asian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Asbah Binti Razali
    Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Azharudin Bin Mohamed Dali
    Department of History, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]
    Dr. Hasmah Binti Zanuddin
    Department of Media Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia
    [email protected]

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