The Gracchi reforms targeted which social group?

• A. Patricians
• B. Equestrian class
• C. Plebeians
• D. Foreigners

Answer: (C)

The main idea tested here is how reform efforts in the late Republic were aimed at shifting power toward the common people who were suffering under land inequality. The Gracchi brothers pushed measures to help the landless and smallholders—primarily the plebeians. Their agrarian laws sought to redistribute public land and cap large estates, so that citizen smallholders could reclaim a stake in Roman land and politics. This focus on land reform, subsidies, and protections for the common citizen shows the target as the plebeians, the everyday Romans who made up the majority and faced economic strain. The patricians and wealthy equestrians were the groups these reforms challenged, while foreigners were not the focus of the policy. So the correct target is the plebeians.