Marcus Junius Gracchanus (2nd1st century BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

who was a partisan of the Brothers Gracchi and their reforms. He was the founder of the

Junii Gracchani The gens Junia or Iunia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarq ...

, a branch of the prominent Junia

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Name

Marcus was a common

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

() within the Junia

. He assumed his epithet () "the Gracchan" or "Gracchian" () out of solidarity with

Gaius Sempronius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, in ...

and his reforms. Pliny, ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

''
Book XXXIII, Ch. 9.
His name is sometimes emended to and sometimes mistakenly given as "Gaius Junius Gracchanus", "Junius Gracchianus", or as "Junius Gracchus".

Life

Little is known of the life of Gracchanus. He was born into the prominent

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the gro ...

Junia

and was a partisan of the and the Gracchian reforms. He apparently belonged to a fraternity () with Titus Pomponius, the father of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's friend T. Pomponius Atticus. A

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the pow ...

for named Marcus Junius son of Decimus ("M. Iunius f. D. tr. pl.") was responsible for the that amended the , changing court procedures and jury composition to make it easier for

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

subjects to recover property illegally seized by

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and other Roman officials. This is usually taken to have been M. Junius Silanus who was an

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

in but

Boris Rankov Nikolas Boris Rankov (born 9 August 1954) is a British professor of Roman history at Royal Holloway, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a former rower and current umpire. Early life, education and family Rankov was ...

suggests it may have been the Gracchian ally Marcus Junius instead. Similarly, if Gracchanus were identical to the separately attested Junius Congus and had the cognomen Gracchanus assigned to him by others, thenas Rankov argueshe would have gone from a notoriously middle-brow moderate ally of the

Gracchi brothers The Gracchi brothers were two brothers who lived during the beginning of the late Roman Republic: Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. They served in the plebeian tribunates of 133 BC and 122–121 BC, respectively. They have b ...

to a learned antiquarian in retirement, whether out of disillusion or an abundance of caution after having been exempted from the purge of the Gracchi's closest supporters in and after. His father would have been named Decimus Junius Congus and the son would've been remarkably long lived, the historian Junius Congus being mentioned as only recently dead in Rankov's arguments, however, depend on Silanus not having made a similar political adjustment to the one he proposes for Congus, effusively praised by the orator

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the ...

, and on it being unlikely that the large and prominent Junia family would have two scholars in the same generation.

Works

Gracchanus wrote a work "On Legal Powers" () that survives only in descriptions and fragments. It recounted Rome's

unwritten constitution An uncodified constitution is a type of constitution where the fundamental rules often take the form of customs, usage, precedent and a variety of statutes and legal instruments.Johari, J. C. (2006) ''New Comparative Government'', Lotus Press, N ...

and various offices from the legendary time of kings, discussing the origin of new offices and when changes were made to the various offices' duties. It was dedicated to Titus Pomponius. It is quoted or excerpted by

Censorinus Censorinus () was a Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer. Name From its grammatical form, Censorinus is presumably his cognomen, the shared surname of a branch of a Roman family (). The cognomen would typically be used by those descende ...

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

, Pliny,

Ulpian Ulpian (; ; 223 or 228) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon). He moved to Rome and rose to become considered one of the great legal authorities of his time. He was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to ...

, and

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, '' On the Latin Language'', Books IV & V. Parts of

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (biblical figure) (1st century AD) *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida * Gaius Asinius Gal ...

's '' On the Law of the 12 Tables'' and

Pomponius The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC ...

's ''

Enchiridion An enchiridion or encheiridion (, ''enkheirídion'') is a small manual or handbook. It can refer more specifically to: * ''Enchiridion'' of Epictetus, a short manual of Stoic ethical advice * '' Enchiridion de Metris'', an ancient treatise on po ...

, '' Digest''
Book I, Tit. 2
. excerpted in

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

's '' Digest'' also seem to be based on Gracchanus's text.

Hans Beck Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is often described as "The Father of Playmobil". He began to make toys at an early age and trained as a cabinet maker, before being recrui ...

considers that the politician and historian

Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC. Biography Early life Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a member of the plebeian gens Sempronia. His father had the same name and was senator ...

's "Of Magistrates" () was intended as a direct response to Gracchanus's arguments, whereas Rankov considers Gracchanus's work a possible reposte to Tuditanus instead.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * * . * * . * . * . * . * . * . * * . {{Authority control 2nd-century BC births Ancient Roman writers Latin historians Ancient Roman politicians 1st-century BC deaths Junii