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(Simulator) Chapter 104: Lista Night, Are You Trying to Become Emperor of Rome?!
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 15:48:09 +0000 UTCLista Night’s intentions were laid bare: he was here to defeat them, no negotiations, no compromises.
The Senate’s attempts to pull him to their side were futile—he had no interest in anything but reform.
How could such a man be so impervious to influence?
Finally, the Senate realized who the true fools were.
As Night delivered his final notice and left the chamber, they all wore expressions of anguish.
“Circulate this document and make sure every senator sees it,” the consul growled through clenched teeth as he handed out the papers Night had delivered.
The new bill under review was the Sempronian Agrarian Law, named similarly to Tiberius' historical reforms, but with updated provisions.
The first lines that met the eyes of the senators hit them like a hammer:
1. From now on, each Roman citizen can lease no more than 500 iugera of public land, and no family may lease more than 1,000 iugera.
2. The right to lease land may no longer be sold.
3. Any land exceeding 1,000 iugera will be forcibly bought back by the state and redistributed.
The essence of these laws was focused on land redistribution, ensuring that landless Romans could once again have access to farmland.
Sharp-eyed senators immediately recognized the implications.
The first provision, limiting family landholdings to 1,000 iugera, was clearly a blow against the aristocratic habit of registering land under the names of slaves to avoid taxes and dodge the limits.
The second provision, prohibiting the sale of land leases, prevented nobles from coercing poor citizens into selling their lands at unfair prices.
Even if the wealthy managed to drive free citizens into desperation, they could no longer buy their lands for cheap.
This directly tied into the third provision—state-enforced buyback and redistribution of land.
In theory, those who received redistributed land now had only the right to use it, not to sell it.
This meant the poor could return to farming without the threat of starvation, as the land wouldn’t be lost to the rich again.
If the first three laws were considered modest reforms, something the Senate could still find ways to counter, the next part of the bill turned their faces completely dark.
If viewed in isolation, Tiberius’ proposals weren’t entirely unreasonable.
Some more progressive senators might have been willing to accept the reforms, acknowledging the problems facing Rome and knowing they needed to be addressed eventually.
Openly rejecting these proposals would make them look bad, and even the aristocrats had reputations to uphold.
But there was a glaring flaw with these reforms.
Rome’s agriculture mainly relied on cash crops like grapes for wine and olives for oil.
These crops required substantial capital to cultivate.
Just because the state gave poor citizens land didn’t mean they had the resources to farm it.
Even if the reforms were implemented, if the poor couldn’t afford to work the land, over time, they might be tempted to sell it back to the wealthy.
While the first law technically restricted the sale of land, the senators knew all too well that the rich would find loopholes.
Expecting the aristocrats to oversee themselves? It was laughable.
But then the document revealed the proposed solution: the state would fund the poor to farm the land.
If the Senate didn’t agree to the reforms? Then it would be taken to a People’s Assembly.
And if the People’s Assembly rejected it? It would be taken to the Plebeian Assembly, invoking the ancient Hortensian Law!
Tiberius’ unwavering determination to pass these laws was palpable in the text.
It was almost as if Tiberius himself were standing in the chamber, pointing a finger at the senators and daring them to oppose it.
The Plebeian Assembly and the Hortensian Law were nearly forgotten relics of Roman law, tucked away in the shadows of the upper class’s dominance.
According to the Hortensian Law, if a Plebeian Assembly was convened and the majority of plebeians agreed to a law, it could become official immediately.
The key difference between the Plebeian Assembly and the Citizen Assembly was the composition: the Citizen Assembly included both patricians and plebeians, often with patrician tribunes or officials influencing the decisions.
However, the Plebeian Assembly, as the name suggests, was made up entirely of plebeians—common citizens with no influence from the aristocracy.
The existence of this law was, in itself, somewhat absurd and full of loopholes.
If plebeians could simply gather and enact new Roman laws, what purpose did the Citizen Assembly serve?
Yet, despite this absurdity, the law remained in effect, much like the outdated and aristocratically defined Twelve Tables of Roman law.
The discovery of the Hortensian Law was undoubtedly the result of Night’s advice to Tiberius.
In history, Tiberius Gracchus would eventually think of this method to push through his reforms, but Night had simply accelerated the timeline.
Through impassioned speeches and legal loopholes constantly being exploited by him, this entire sequence of events—what should have played out over a decade or more—was condensed into a flurry of rapid-fire legal maneuvers.
Even the experienced senators, with decades in politics, were left reeling, struggling to keep up.
They were dizzy with confusion—!
As the senators continued reading the legal proposal, they felt increasingly as though they were being mocked.
The document wasn’t even complete.
Despite the importance of such a significant legal submission, the proposal’s ending was shockingly casual:
"The above three laws are presented for the Senate’s consideration. If they are passed, the remaining sections of the reform will be made available.
If the Senate cannot agree to these three laws, there will be no need to discuss the rest."
The tone was neutral, but it said everything without needing to say it explicitly.
It stopped just short of directly mocking the Senate with the unspoken implication: We’d hate for this to give you a heart attack.
The senators were already fuming.
“What are they planning?! Is this a threat?!”
“This is intimidation!!!
This is a disrespect for Roman law! It’s a direct insult to the Senate!”
“Curse Lista Night, curse the Gracchi brothers, curse Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus!
Did you read what he wrote?
What does he want? If we refuse, they’ll call a Citizen Assembly, and if the Citizen Assembly refuses, they’ll go to the Plebeian Assembly?
Does he think he’s the king of Rome?
He’s planning to push his law through with the support of uneducated plebeians who know nothing!”
"This is a complete takeover of the Roman people!
What is he trying to do—start a rebellion?!"
The Senate chamber echoed with furious shouts as the enraged senators vented their anger.
Tiberius Gracchus had crossed the line this time.
If they allowed him to establish his laws through the Plebeian Assembly, Tiberius would effectively control Rome by harnessing the power of the people.
From then on, all laws in Rome could be altered at his will.
At that point—
Even if he wasn’t officially an emperor, wouldn’t he hold more power than one?
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