Violence in the Forum

Weaves together the military, political, and social aspects of this tumultuous period of Roman history.

“The entry of daggers into the Forum” is an expression that identifies two precise historical moments: when two tribunes of the plebs—brothers Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Caius Sempronius Gracchus—were murdered in Rome in 133 and 122 BC amidst bloody riots. These deaths and subsequent events...