Tiberius Gracchus saw the crisis that was occurring in the Roman Empire between the motives of the elite and the needs of the lower class. The lower-class Roman citizens, or Plebeians, were motivated to fight by receiving shares of land for their work, but when sent off again to fight, the land would consequently lose all value from the men not being present to cultivate and work the land for profit. When new land was conquered, the rich would then purchase it, leaving the Plebeians landless. Although there were laws passed setting a maximum amount of 500 acres of land that the rich could purchase, they would sneak around this law with fictitious names, still leaving the poor without any income, making them beggars in the city. .
Meanwhile, the rich citizen's, or Patrician's, land was being worked by foreign slaves who were living in better conditions than the poor citizens. Tiberius planned reforms for land redistribution to benefit the lower class, motivating them to want to be a part of the military rather than allowing the rich to dictate who gets what land and leaving the poor to die out and ultimately, weaken Rome as a whole. When beginning to implement these reforms, he had to provide a clear standpoint for the Plebeians to understand and support, propose them formally and publicly, and figure out a way to get them passed without a veto from the senate, which ultimately caused hostility and outbreak among the opposing sides.
From an account of a war veteran in the Forum, it is simple to see the disaster that was occurring to the lower class when he says "During the Sabine war the enemy deprived me of my crops, destroyed my home, and drove off my cattle. Then at this awful moment, taxes became due. I borrowed to pay them and thus fell into debt"" (Livy, 1st c. BC Roman, historian). After the debt, he was then stripped of all property in his family's name and taken by his creditor to prison.
