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The Roman Republic, it can be said, acted at first as an aristocratical form of governance because it was only the upper class that was allowed to hold public office and that was administrating every decision making. Due to pressures coming from the plebeians who represented the lower-class, concessions were made throughout the years that allowed for the latter to have more influence. However, these liberties were somewhat limited. What's more, military force, which was unanimously supposed to have worked for the benefit of society, was disrupted by separated affinities with each general having his own army instead of a single one existing. Because of such discontinuities, the Roman Republic started to destabilize itself up to the point of the republic being overcome by a new form of government, the empire.

The Roman Republic was annually at the hands of two consuls who were elected by the citizens and advised by a senate. This was an initiative set to reduce absolute power over the people, but it also caused an inconsistency in that no individual actually kept the position long enough to specialize in what the Republic dealt with in the matter of economy, prosperity, and will of the people. The whole Republican system was controlled by a constitution that was not so much a written act, but rather a sort of understanding that defined the power of the institutions within the Republic. This so called unwritten constitution had no specific guidelines of its own, but rather adopted previous ones in the history of the state, adapted them to contemporary issues and developed them throughout time. It decided over everything from citizenship and legal rights to religion and the justice system. Again, there are arguments as to the type of constitution that prevailed in the Roman Republic and, in this respect, ?if one looked at the power of the Consuls, the constitution seemed completely monarchial; if at that of the Senate, it seemed aristocratic; and if at the power of the masses, it seemed clearly to be a democracy. (Craig et al. 45) The affirmation was meant to imply that decision factors in the Republic were shared between the Consuls and the Senate, each being attributed with different areas of expertise.In this respect, the people were left the task of administering punishments and rewards within the society, that is to say that they held a position that enabled some influence within the justice system. However, in more than one occasion, the patricians who were the upper class were favored over the plebeians. In saying that, we confirm that the senate was dominated by patricians and although plebeians who were rich and successful enough to reach the tribunes did exist, their interest differed very from that of the patricians who only sought to keep their power and the actual state of governance. It was really difficult to maintain a position because the fees were high and as such, not everyone could reach the point of having some sort of influence within the Republic. With elected officials using their positions to maintain power and substantiate their wealth and with plebeians buying their way to the office, tension arose because legislation was no more created for good government, but laws were being passed because it favored officials. This tension developed into a dangerous state of things with safety no longer guaranteed and no police force existing because there were no resources to pay them. These were the problems the Republic was confronting itself with when the decline started to be noticed.

Tiberius Gracchus sought he would solve many of the Republic's problems if he offered land to the peasantry that was starting to take cities by assault. When he became a tribune in 133 B.C.E, he proposed a bill in this respect; however, he anticipated that this initiative would jeopardize the control of the powerful senators over these public lands. Obviously, they would not be so willing to give away land that was more or less in their possession. This is why Tiberius went pass the senate to inoculate his land reform, not knowing he would stir up not an economical revolution, but indeed a military one. Although his aims were recognized as legal, the process developed into a revolution when opposite forces sought to overrule the law. Tiberius claimed his bill….....