Gracchus, learning this, bade his friends arm themselves with staves;
and when the people began to inquire the cause of this, he put his hand
to his head, intimating that his life was in danger. Some of his enemies
ran to the senate and reported that Tiberius openly demanded a crown. A
body of the aristocrats with their clients and dependents then rushed
among the unarmed crowd, and murdered Gracchus with three hundred of his
adherents,--133 B. C.
Tiberius Gracchus was dead, but his work remained; that is to say, the
measure which he had proposed was law, and the commissioners intrusted
with the task of allotting the lands prosecuted their labors for two or
three years. The nobles, however, obstructed the work as much as
possible, so that between them and the champions of the people there was
a continuous struggle.