In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and husbandmen, or to the general farming class of people of any society.
Various attempts to reform agrarian laws were part of the socio-political struggle between the patricians and plebeians known as the Conflict of the Orders.
By the 2nd century BC, wealthy landowners had begun to dominate the agrarian areas of the republic by "renting" large tracts of public land and treating it as if it were private.
Roman cities were not good places to attempt to get jobs; they were also dangerous, overcrowded and messy[citation needed].
[2] The proposed law was opposed by the senators (some of whom it seemed were squatting on the public Roman land) and by the other consul Proculus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus.
[1] Verginius spoke publicly against the law, and the plebs became concerned that land was being given to the Latin allies, and also that Cassius might be seeking to pave the way to regal power.
[10][11] In 470 BC the tribunes Marcus Duilius and Gnaeus Siccius brought to trial the consul of the previous year, Appius Claudius, a man who was hated by the people.
[13] Tensions flared after the conclusion of the foreign conflicts, and as a consequence the plebeians refused to attend the consular elections for 468 BC.
However the tensions were resolved by Aemilius' colleague Fabius, who proposed a law that a Roman colony be planted at Antium, and land there be distributed amongst the plebeians.
Further reforms in 122 BC were attempted by Tiberius's brother, Gaius Gracchus, including the expansion of the laws' area of influence to all of the colonies in Italy.