The Lex Agraria can refer to a Roman law

Roman law

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

 proposed in 133 BC

133 BC

Year 133 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scaevola and Frugi...

 during the Tribunate

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

 of Tiberius Gracchus

Tiberius Gracchus

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...

. The law involved the redistribution of public land, previously owned by the Senatorial class

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, to the lower classes in Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, using money bequeathed to Rome in the will of Attalus III of Pergamum to purchase the land and provide resources with which the Plebieans

Plebs

The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...

could start lives farming the land rather than suffering from debt and unemployment in the city. The law was most unpopular with the upper classes, and as a result of this, plus various other factors, Gracchus was murdered by a group of Senators later in the year. However, the law was passed that same year as a result of heavy pressure on the Senate from the Roman populace.

The "Lex Agraria" can also refer to a law passed in 111 BC between March 15 and the harvest season. This statute recognized the land claims made in Italy, Africa, and Greece since the earlier Lex Agraria of 133 BC.