How come the Roman Republic was experiencing social unrest?

Answer 1

Social unrest was mostly related to the question of poor plebeians. Their first grievance was the way debt defaulters were abused by creditors, who detained them, tortured them and probably sometimes sold them as slaves. This led to the first rebellion. New laws then regulated the disputes between these two parties and provided some protection for defaulters. Debt-bondage was another issue. Credit was extended against lack of security or at high interest rates, so that the debtor was forced to offer his labour to repay the creditor and become bonded to him. Effectively, this was a form of serfdom and a way to secure labour for their large landed estates. This source of conflict decreased when slavery became an alternative source of labour. Land redistribution was another issue as poor peasants had plots of land that were insufficient to feed their families. This problem was temporarily relieved with the conquest of Italy and the establishment of Roman colonies in the conquered territories. However, later Hannibal's devastation of the countryside in parts of Italy in the Second Punic War impoverished many small peasants and their land was bought cheaply by the rich. Service in the army by peasants also led to farms decaying and having to be sold. The increase in the supply of slave labour fostered further encroaching. Competion in grain supply from Sicily and North Africa did not help either. Migration of the landless to Rome and other cities became big. Land reforms were blocked or failed. The issues of land and poverty became a tinderbox.