I was listening to a "Teaching Company" tape about the history of Rome, and I was very struck by the way the teacher outlined the contributions of the Gracchi. He pretty much said that EVERYTHING that went wrong with the late Republic, started with the Gracchi - that their flagrant abuse of the traditions of both the Senate and the Tribunes of the people, their use of violence and intimidation, and taking laws which the Senate wouldn't pass straight to the Assembly, started Rome on a downhill trend that led in a straight line to Julius Caesar and the fall of the Republic.

I thought they were considered to be important in Roman history, but not as the BAD guys. Is anyone else more familiar with the history of these two?