The Evolution of the Equestrian Order in the Second Century B.C.

Gaius gracchus gave the power to sit on juries of these courts to equite instead, which then gave them political power over the senators. And so this gave birth to a class consciousness amongst the equestrian order. They were a group set apart from the senate, and have got to keep the senators honestyer. Over the next 50 years or so they become a political football between the senate and the equity.