Sentinel
6th August 2008, 23:01
After stumbling upon the wiki article about the Persian 'prophet' Mazdak (see discussion (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=80443&highlight=mazdak)), I came to wonder about exactly how many of these people who 'were before their time' there actually have been. I'm talking about influential people during the antiquity and medieval periods, who held views that could be considered egalitarian or progressive for their time -- or even by todays standards -- but whose ambitions were ruined due to the material conditions necessary not yet existing.
I'm also looking for people who unknowingly might have rolled the wheels of progress forward in exiting ways, had they succeeded. Most of these people were obviously, by communist standards, still extremely reactionary in various aspects, as they were products of their time -- remember that even the fathers of communism, Marx and Engels held some socially dubious views as they were born in the nineteenth century.
So, let's post examples!
I'll kick off with the brothers Tiberius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus) and Gaius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Gracchus) Sempronius Gracchus, who served as Tribunes of the Popular Assembly during the Roman republic. They weren't as radical as Mazdak, who tried to aboilish private property and marriage, but were certainly among the most progressive Roman politicians.
The older brother, Tiberius, was first elected in office and started fighting for a land reform aiming to redistribute the lands held by the wealthy Senatorial class to the landless war veterans and homeless of Rome. These lands had often been acquired by the rich by illegal means.
Aware of the opposition he would face in the Senate, he circumvented it and pressed for the matter in the Popular Assembly instead. The senators responded with getting their 'own man' as the second Popular tribune and had him veto Tiberius' proposals.
Tiberius, however, then started vetoing every decision he had to approve, and thus practically shut down the entire city and all production. This method eventually forced the Senate to comply and approve the land reform, but they still tried to sabotage in every way and refused to give Tiberius sufficient funds to work with.
However, at this point the filthy rich king Attalus of Pergamon happened to die and testament his country and all of his wealth to Rome (or this is at least how the Romans interpreted it -- the will only named P.R. as the king's heir, and the Romans comfortably read this as Populus Romanum, the people of Rome. Pergamon was immediately added as a province). Tiberius now managed to get this money for the execution of the land reform.
The Senate was now extremely annoyed with Tiberius Gracchus, and when he tried to get re-elected he was murdered in the Senate. The troubles for the rich bastards in the Senate weren't over with his death, however.
In the year 123 BC Tiberius younger brother Gaius was elected into the office of Popular Tribune. He would prove to be determined to see that the land reform happened, and added a few radical proposals of his own -- for instance to regulate the price of grain, to prevent corruption in the legal system, and to extend Roman citizenship to the populations of a number of Italian towns.
Gaius had the backing of the lower classes and managed to get elected into office twice, but failed the third time. Immediately after he was replaced the senate started to undo his hard-won reforms.
Unrest followed, and the senate ordered the execution of Gaius and his supporters. Gaius committed suicide with the help of a slave, but 3000 of his supporters were murdered.
I'm also looking for people who unknowingly might have rolled the wheels of progress forward in exiting ways, had they succeeded. Most of these people were obviously, by communist standards, still extremely reactionary in various aspects, as they were products of their time -- remember that even the fathers of communism, Marx and Engels held some socially dubious views as they were born in the nineteenth century.
So, let's post examples!
I'll kick off with the brothers Tiberius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus) and Gaius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Gracchus) Sempronius Gracchus, who served as Tribunes of the Popular Assembly during the Roman republic. They weren't as radical as Mazdak, who tried to aboilish private property and marriage, but were certainly among the most progressive Roman politicians.
The older brother, Tiberius, was first elected in office and started fighting for a land reform aiming to redistribute the lands held by the wealthy Senatorial class to the landless war veterans and homeless of Rome. These lands had often been acquired by the rich by illegal means.
Aware of the opposition he would face in the Senate, he circumvented it and pressed for the matter in the Popular Assembly instead. The senators responded with getting their 'own man' as the second Popular tribune and had him veto Tiberius' proposals.
Tiberius, however, then started vetoing every decision he had to approve, and thus practically shut down the entire city and all production. This method eventually forced the Senate to comply and approve the land reform, but they still tried to sabotage in every way and refused to give Tiberius sufficient funds to work with.
However, at this point the filthy rich king Attalus of Pergamon happened to die and testament his country and all of his wealth to Rome (or this is at least how the Romans interpreted it -- the will only named P.R. as the king's heir, and the Romans comfortably read this as Populus Romanum, the people of Rome. Pergamon was immediately added as a province). Tiberius now managed to get this money for the execution of the land reform.
The Senate was now extremely annoyed with Tiberius Gracchus, and when he tried to get re-elected he was murdered in the Senate. The troubles for the rich bastards in the Senate weren't over with his death, however.
In the year 123 BC Tiberius younger brother Gaius was elected into the office of Popular Tribune. He would prove to be determined to see that the land reform happened, and added a few radical proposals of his own -- for instance to regulate the price of grain, to prevent corruption in the legal system, and to extend Roman citizenship to the populations of a number of Italian towns.
Gaius had the backing of the lower classes and managed to get elected into office twice, but failed the third time. Immediately after he was replaced the senate started to undo his hard-won reforms.
Unrest followed, and the senate ordered the execution of Gaius and his supporters. Gaius committed suicide with the help of a slave, but 3000 of his supporters were murdered.