they forthwith tucked up their dress, and breaking the staves which the
officers use to keep the crowd back, distributed the fragments among
them and made ready to defend themselves against their assailants. While
those at a distance were wondering at what was going on, and asking what
it meant, Tiberius touched his head with his hand, since his voice could
not be heard, intending thereby to signify to the people that his life
was in danger. His enemies on seeing this ran to the Senate and told
them that Tiberius was asking for a crown, and that his touching his
head was a proof of it. On this the whole body was greatly disturbed;
Nasica entreated the consul[76] to protect the state and put down the
tyrant. The consul however answered mildly that he would not be the
first to use violence, and that he would not take any citizen's life
without a regular trial; if however, he said, the people should come to
an illegal vote at the instigation of Tiberius, or from compulsion, he
would not respect any such decision. Upon this Nasica springing up
exclaimed, "Well then, as the consul betrays the state, do you who wish
to maintain the laws follow me." As he uttered these words he drew the
skirt of his dress over his head, and hastened to the Capitol; and the
senators who followed him, wrapping their dress about them with one
hand, pushed all the people they met out of the way, no one opposing
them, from respect to their rank, but taking to flight and trampling
down one another. The followers of the senators had clubs and sticks
which they had brought from home; but the senators seizing the fragments
and legs of the benches which were broken by the people in their hurry
to escape, made right to Tiberius, and struck all those who were in
their road. The people were all put to flight or killed. As Tiberius was
attempting to make his escape, some one laid hold of his dress, on which
he dropped his toga and fled in his tunic; but he stumbled over some
persons who were lying on the ground and was thrown down. While he was
endeavouring to rise, he received the first blow, as it is universally
admitted, from Publius Satyreius, one of his colleagues, who struck him
on the head with the leg of a bench. Lucius Rufus claimed the credit of
giving him the second blow, as if that were a thing to be proud of.
Above three hundred persons lost their lives by sticks and stones, but
none by the sword.
XX. This is said to have been the first disturbance at Rome since the
abolition of the kingly power, which ended in bloodshed and the death of
citizens. All previous disputes, though they were neither trifling nor
about trifling matters, were settled by mutual concession: the nobles
yielded through fear of the people, and the people yielded from respect
to the Senate. Even on this occasion it is probable that Tiberius would
have given way to persuasion without any difficulty, and still more
readily if his assailants had not come to bloodshed and blows, for those
about him were not above three thousand in number. But the combination
against him seems to have proceeded rather from the passion and hatred
of the rich citizens, than from the reasons which they alleged; and the
brutal and indecent treatment of his dead body is a proof of this. For
they would not listen to his brother's request[77] to take up the body
and bury it at night, but it was thrown into the Tiber with the other
bodies. And this was not all; they banished some of his friends without
trial, and others they seized and put to death, among whom was Diophanes
the orator. One Caius Villius[78] they shut up in a vessel with snakes
and vipers, and thus he died. Blossius of Cumæ, being brought before the
consuls and questioned about what had passed, admitted that he had done
everything at the bidding of Tiberius. On Nasica asking[79] him, "What
if Tiberius had told you to burn the Capitol?" Blossius said, that
Tiberius would never have given him any such order. The same question
being often put to him, and by several persons, he said, "If he had
commanded me to burn the Capitol, it would have been a good deed for me
to do; for Tiberius would not have given such an order unless it were
for the interest of the people." Blossius, however, was set at liberty,
and afterwards went to Aristonikus[80] in Asia, on the ruin of whose
affairs he killed himself.
XXI. The Senate, under present circumstances, endeavoured to soothe the
people; they made no opposition to the distribution of the public land,
and they allowed the people to elect another commissioner in place of
Tiberius. Having come to a vote, they elected Publius Crassus[81] a
relation of Gracchus, for his daughter Licinia was the wife of Caius
Gracchus. Cornelius Nepos,[82] indeed, says that Caius did not marry the
daughter of Crassus, but the daughter of Brutus[83] who triumphed over
the Lusitanians: however, the majority of writers state the matter as I
have done. Now, as the people were sore about the death of Tiberius, and
were manifestly waiting for an opportunity to be revenged, and
Nasica[84] was threatened with prosecutions, the Senate, fearing for his
safety, made a decree for sending him to Asia, though they had nothing
for him to do there. For when men met Nasica they did not conceal their
hostility, but broke out into violence, and abused him wherever they
fell in with him, calling him accursed, and tyrant, who had stained with
the blood of an inviolable and sacred functionary the most sacred and
revered of all the holy places in the city. Accordingly, Nasica left
Italy, though bound by the most sacred functions, for he was Pontifex
Maximus; and, rambling about despised from place to place, he died no
long time after in the neighbourhood of Pergamum. It is no wonder if
Nasica was so much hated by the people, when even Scipio Africanus, whom
the Romans considered inferior to no man in integrity, and loved as well
as any, narrowly escaped losing the popular favour, because, on
receiving the news of the death of Tiberius, at Numantia, he exclaimed
in the verse of Homer,
So perish[85] all who do the like again.
Subsequently, when Caius and Fulvius asked him, before an assembly of
the people, what he thought of the death of Tiberius, he showed by his
answer that he was not pleased with the measures of Tiberius. This made
the people interrupt him with their shouts when he was speaking, as they
had never done before; and Scipio was so far transported with passion as
to break out into invectives against them. But of this I have spoken
more particularly in the Life of Scipio.[86]
LIFE OF CAIUS GRACCHUS.
I. Caius Gracchus at first, either through fear of his enemies or with
the view of making them odious, withdrew from the Forum[87] and kept
quiet at home, like a man humbled for the present, and intending for the
future to keep aloof from public affairs; which gave occasion for some
people to say that he disliked the measures of Tiberius, and had
abandoned them. He was also still quite a youth, for he was nine years
younger than his brother, and Tiberius was not thirty[88] when he was
killed. But in the course of time, as his character gradually displayed
itself in his aversion to indolence, luxury, wine, and all matters of
private profit, and it was clear, from his application to the study of
eloquence, that he was preparing, as it were, his pinions for public
life, and that he would not remain quiet; and further, when he showed by
his defence of Vettius, one of his friends, who was under prosecution,
the people all around him being wild and frantic with delight, that the
rest of the orators were mere children, the nobles were again alarmed,
and there was much talk among them that they would not allow Caius to
obtain the tribunate. It happened without any set design that the lot
fell on him to go as quæstor to Sardinia,[89] under Orestes[90] the
consul, which pleased his enemies, and was not disagreeable to Caius.
For he was fond of war, and equally disciplined for military service and
speaking in the courts of justice; but he still shrunk from public
affairs and the Rostra, and as he could not resist the invitations of
the people and his friends, he was well pleased with this opportunity of
leaving Rome. It is true it is a common opinion that Caius was a pure
demagogue, and much more greedy of popular favour than Tiberius. But it
was not so in fact, and Caius seems to have been involved in public
affairs rather through a kind of necessity than choice. Cicero the
orator also says that Caius declined all offices, and had determined to
live in retirement, but that his brother appeared to him in a dream,[91]
and said, "Caius, why do you linger? There is no escape: one life for
both of us, and one death in defence of the people is our fate."
II. Now, Caius during his stay in Sardinia exhibited his excellent
qualities in every way; he far surpassed all the young men in military
courage, in upright conduct to the subject people, in loyalty and
respect to the commander; and in temperance, frugality, and attention to
his duties he excelled even his elders. The winter having been severe
and unhealthy in Sardinia, the general demanded clothing for his
soldiers from the cities, upon which they sent to Rome to pray to be
relieved from this imposition. The Senate granted their petition, and
ordered the general to get supplies for the troops by other means; but
as the general was unable to do this, and the soldiers were suffering,
Caius went round to the cities and induced them voluntarily to send
clothing and to assist the Romans. This, being reported to Rome, made
the Senate uneasy, for they viewed it as a preliminary to popular
agitation. Ambassadors also arrived at Rome from Libya, with a message
from King Micipsa,[92] that the king had sent corn to the commander in
Sardinia, out of respect for Caius Gracchus. The Senate, taking offence
at the message, would not receive the ambassadors, and they passed a
decree that fresh troops should be sent out to replace those in
Sardinia, but that Orestes should stay; intending by this measure to
keep Caius there also, in respect of his office. On this being done,
Caius immediately set sail in a passion, and appearing at Rome contrary
to all expectation, was not only blamed by his enemies, but even the
people considered it a strange thing for the quæstor to leave his
general behind. However, when the matter was brought before the
Censors,[93] he asked for permission to make his defence, and he
produced such a change in the opinions of his audience, that he was
acquitted, and considered to have been exceedingly ill used: he said
that he had served in the army for twelve years, while others were only
required to serve ten years, and that he had exercised the functions of
quæstor to the commander for three years, though the law allowed him to
return after one year's service; he added that he was the only soldier
who took out a full purse with him and brought it back empty, while the
rest took out with them only jars of wine, which they had emptied in
Sardinia, and brought them back full of gold and silver.
III. After this, his enemies brought fresh charges against him, and
harassed him with prosecutions on the ground of causing the defection of
the allies and having participated in the conspiracy which had been
detected at Fregellæ.[94] But he cleared himself of all suspicion, and
having established his innocence, immediately set about canvassing for
the tribunate. All the men of distinction, without exception, opposed
him; and so great a multitude flocked to Rome from all parts of Italy,
to the Comitia, that many of them could not find lodgings, and the
Campus Martius[95] being unable to contain the numbers, they shouted
from the house-tops and tilings. However, the nobility so far prevailed
against the people as to disappoint the hopes of Caius, inasmuch as he
was not returned first, as he expected, but only fourth. But upon
entering on his office he soon made himself first, for he surpassed
every Roman in eloquence,[96] and his misfortunes gave him a licence
for speaking freely when lamenting the fate of his brother. He took
every opportunity of directing the thoughts of the people to this
subject, reminding them of former times, and contrasting the conduct of
their ancestors, who went to war with the Falisci on behalf of Gemicius,
a tribune, who had been insulted by them, and condemned Caius Veturius
to death because he was the only man that did not make way for a tribune
as he was passing through the Forum. "But before your eyes," he
exclaimed, "these men beat Tiberius to death with staves, and his body
was dragged through the midst of the city to be thrown into the Tiber;
and all his friends who were caught were put to death without trial. And
yet it is an old usage among us, if a man is accused of a capital charge
and does not appear, for a trumpeter to come to the door of his house in
the morning and summon him by the sound of the trumpet, and the judices
cannot vote upon the charge till this has been done. So circumspect and
careful were the Romans of old in the trials of persons accused."
IV. Having first stirred up the people by such harangues as these (and
he had a very loud voice, and was most vigorous in speech), he
promulgated two laws:[97] one, to the effect that if the people had
deprived any magistrate of his office, he should be incapacitated from
holding office a second time; and the other, which rendered a magistrate
liable to a public prosecution if he had banished any citizen without
trial. One of these rogations had the direct effect of branding with
infamy Marcus Octavius, who had been deprived of the tribunate by
Tiberius; and Popillius[98] came within the penalties of the other, for
during his prætorship he had banished the friends of Tiberius. Popillius
did not stand his trial, and he fled from Italy; but the other law Caius
himself withdrew, saying that he refrained from touching Octavius at the
request of his mother Cornelia. The people admired his conduct on this
occasion, and gave their consent, for they respected Cornelia no less
for the sake of her sons than her father; and afterwards they set up a
bronze statue[99] of her, with the inscription--Cornelia, Mother of the
Gracchi. There are recorded several things that Caius said in defence of
his mother in a rhetorical and coarse way, in reply to one of his
enemies. "What," said he, "do you abuse Cornelia, the mother of
Tiberius?" And as the man laboured under the imputation of being a
dissolute fellow, he added, "How can you have the impudence to compare
yourself with Cornelia? Have you been a mother, as she has?"--and more to
the like effect, but still coarser. Such was the bitterness of his
language, and many like things occur in his writings.
V. Of the laws[100] which he promulgated with the view of gaining the
popular favour and weakening the Senate, one was for the establishment
of colonies and the distribution of Public Land among the poor; another
provided for supplying the soldiers with clothing at the public expense,
without any deduction on this account being made from their pay, and
exempted youths under seventeen years of age from being drafted for the
army; a third was in favour of the allies, and put the Italians on the
same footing as the citizens with respect to the suffrage; another
related to grain, and had for its object the lowering of the price for
the poor; the last related to the judices, a measure which most of all
encroached on the privileges of the senate--for the senate alone supplied
judices for the trials, and this privilege rendered that body formidable
both to the people and the equites. The law of Gracchus added three
hundred equites to the senate, who were also three hundred in number,
and it made the judices eligible out of the whole six hundred. In his
endeavours to carry this law he is said to have made every exertion; and
in particular it is recorded that all the popular leaders who preceded
him turned their faces to the senate and the comitium while they were
speaking, but he was the first who turned his face the other way to the
Forum while haranguing the people, and he continued to do so; and by a
small deviation and alteration in attitude he stirred a great question,
and in a manner transformed the government from an aristocratical to a
democratical form, by this new attitude intimating that the orators
should direct their speeches to the many and not to the senate.
VI. The people not only passed this law, but empowered Gracchus to
select from the equites those who were to act as judices, which
conferred on him a kind of monarchical authority, and even the senate
now assented to the measures which he proposed in their body. But all
the measures which he proposed were honourable to the senate; such, for
instance, was the very equitable and just decree about the grain which
Fabius the proprætor sent from Iberia. Gracchus induced the senate to
sell the grain and to return the money which it produced to the Iberian
cities, and further to censure Fabius for making the Roman dominion
heavy and intolerable to the subject nations; this measure brought him
great reputation and popularity in the provinces. He also introduced
measures for sending out colonies, the construction of roads, and the
building of public granaries; and he made himself director and
superintendent for the carrying all these measures into effect. Though
engaged in so many great undertakings, he was never wearied, but with
wonderful activity and labour he effected every single object as if he
had for the time no other occupation, so that even those who thoroughly
hated and feared him were struck with amazement at the rapidity and
perfect execution of all that he undertook. But the people looked with
admiration on the man himself, seeing him attended by crowds of
building-contractors, artificers, ambassadors, magistrates, soldiers,
and learned men, to all of whom he was easy of access; and while he
maintained his dignity, he was affable to all, and adapted his behaviour
to the condition of every individual, and so proved the falsehood of
those who called him tyrannical or arrogant or violent. He thus showed
himself more skilful as a popular leader in his dealings with men, and
in his conduct, than in his harangues from the Rostra.
VII. But Caius busied himself most about the construction of roads,[101]
having in view utility, convenience, and ornament. The roads were made
in a straight line, right through the country, partly of quarried stone
and partly with tight-rammed masses of earth. By filling up the
depressions, and throwing bridges across those parts which were
traversed by winter torrents or deep ravines, and raising the road on
both sides to the same uniform height, the whole line was made level and
presented an agreeable appearance. He also measured all the roads by
miles (the Roman mile is not quite eight Greek stadia), and fixed stone
blocks to mark the distances. He placed other stones at less distances
from one another on each side of the road, that persons might thus
easily mount their horses without assistance.
VIII. As the people extolled him for all these services, and were ready
to show their good will towards him in any way, he said on one occasion
when he was addressing them, that he would ask a favour, which he would
value above everything if it was granted, but if it were refused, he
should not complain. It was accordingly expected that he would ask for
the consulship, and everybody supposed that he would be a candidate for
the consulship and the tribunate at the same time. When the consular
comitia were near, and all were at the highest point of expectation,
Caius appeared conducting Caius Fannius into the Campus Martius, and
canvassing with his friends for Fannius.[102] This gave Fannius a great
advantage. Fannius was elected consul, and Caius tribune for the second
time, though he was neither a candidate nor canvassed, but his election
was entirely due to the zeal of the people. Perceiving, however, that
the senate was clearly opposed to him, and that the kind feeling of
Fannius towards him cooled, he forthwith endeavoured to attach the
people by other measures, by proposing to send colonies to Tarentum and
Capua, and by inviting the Latins to a participation in the Roman
franchise. The senate, fearing that Gracchus would become irresistible,
attempted a new and unusual method of diverting the people from him, by
opposing popular measures to his, and by gratifying the people, contrary
to sound policy. Livius Drusus was one of the colleagues of Caius, a man
by birth and education inferior to none in Rome, and in character,
eloquence, and wealth equal to any who enjoyed either honour or power by
the aid of these advantages. To him accordingly the chief nobles
applied, and they urged him to attack Caius, and to unite with them
against him, not by adopting violent measures, nor coming into collision
with the many, but by a course of administration adapted to please, and
by making such concessions as it would have been honourable to refuse,
even at the risk of unpopularity.
IX. Livius, having agreed to employ his tribunitian authority on the
side of the senate, framed measures which had neither any honourable nor
any useful object: he only had in view to outbid Caius in the popular
favour, just as it is in a comedy, by making himself busy and vying with
his rival. This showed most clearly that the senate were not displeased
with the measures of Caius, but only wished to destroy him or completely
humble him. When Caius proposed to send out ten colonies consisting of
citizens of the best character, the senate accused him of truckling to
the people; but they co-operated with Livius, who proposed twelve
colonies, each of which was to consist of three thousand needy citizens.
They set themselves in opposition to Caius when he proposed to
distribute land among the poor, subject to a yearly payment to the
treasury from each, on the ground that he was trying to gain the popular
favour; but they were satisfied when Livius proposed to relieve the
colonists even from this payment. Further, Caius gave them offence by
proposing to confer on the Latins the Roman suffrage; but when Livius
brought forward a measure which forbade any Latin to be beaten with rods
even while serving in the army, they supported it. And indeed Livius
himself, in his harangues to the people, always said that he only
proposed what was agreeable to the senate, who had a regard for the
many; which indeed was the only good that resulted from his measures.
For the people became more pacifically disposed towards the senate; and
though the most distinguished of them were formerly suspected and hated
by the people, Livius did away with and softened their recollection of
past grievances and their ill feeling, by giving out that it was in
accordance with the wish of the senate that he had entered upon his
popular career and framed measures to please the many.