TIBERIUS AND HIS FRIEND OCTAVIUS
The Senate and the wealthy landowners were displeased that Gracchus had
been chosen as one of the tribunes. They knew that he was eager for
reforms, which they had no wish to see carried out.
But Tiberius was too wise not to try to please those in authority. So
his first measure was not so sweeping as his opponents had expected
it to be. The young reformer even said, that those who would lose
great estates, if the old Licinian laws were enforced, should have
compensation.
But although the landowners had not expected this concession, they were
very angry with Tiberius, and they did all that they could to make the
people misunderstand him. If his wishes were made laws, the lot of the
poor would only become more difficult, they told the plebeians, who did
not know what to believe.
Then, lest the people should begin to think that the landowners knew
better than he what was for their good, Tiberius determined to tell
them plainly what he thought about their struggles and their poverty.
In the Assembly of the people his fervent words rang out.
‘The wild beasts of Italy,’ he said, ‘have their caves and lairs, but
to the men who fought and bled for Italy nothing remains except the
open air and the light of heaven. Bereft of home and shelter, they
wander about with their wives and families. It is a mere mockery and
a delusion in a general to exhort his warriors before a battle by
bidding them fight for the graves of their ancestors and for their
household altars, for not one of them owns an altar bequeathed him by
his father, nor the ground where his fathers are laid. They fight and
fall that others may enjoy affluence and luxury; they are called lords
of the earth, and have not a single clod which is their own.’
These words, so full of pity for the treatment that they suffered,
touched the hearts of the people, and they would no longer listen to a
word against their tribune.
Among his fellow-tribunes, Tiberius scarcely looked for support, save,
perhaps, from his friend Octavius.
At first, indeed, Octavius refused to oppose the bill Gracchus now
brought forward, but in the end he yielded to the enemies of Gracchus,
and promised to do so.
This was fatal to the success of the bill, for it was the rule that if
one tribune disapproved of a measure, the others were powerless to do
any more in the matter. It was allowed to drop out of sight. Tiberius
was too much in earnest to be willing that this should happen. He met
his friend and begged him not to persist in opposing the bill.
Octavius himself was a landowner, and Gracchus, careless, as it seemed,
of his friend’s feelings, even offered to compensate him for what he
would lose if the law was passed.
But Octavius was neither to be persuaded nor bribed. He refused to do
as Tiberius wished, and so it was still impossible to pass the bill.
Then Tiberius, who as tribune had exactly the same power as his friend,
resolved to use it.
He opposed every measure brought before the State, just as Octavius
had opposed his bill. He also put his seal on the treasury, so that no
money could be obtained, and thus it was soon impossible to carry on
public business.
The landowners knew that Tiberius would not rest until he had gained
his end. To show their distress they put on mourning, and walked up and
down the streets with a melancholy mien, for their estates were dear to
them.
But they did more than parade their grief; they called together their
followers that they might be ready to resist Gracchus by force, if it
became necessary. Plots, too, were laid against his life, but Tiberius
heard of these, and from that time he carried a dagger beneath his robe.
The landowners were right in believing that Gracchus would never be
content until his bill had been voted either for or against by the
people.
Not only did the tribune intend to have the vote taken, but he was
resolved that it should be taken without delay. For the people had
crowded into the city from all parts of the country to support him, and
he feared lest they should have to go back to their homes before their
vote had been given.
So he made another attempt to bring his bill before the popular
Assembly, but again Octavius interfered, while some haughty nobles led
their followers into the Assembly and overturned the urns in which the
votes were placed.
Again Gracchus appealed to his friend, this time in the presence of the
Senate, but once again his friend refused to yield to his entreaty.
Tiberius felt that he had done his utmost to win Octavius by kindness.
He now determined to appeal to the people to remove his friend from the
tribuneship.
This was to go in the face of law and justice, for a magistrate when
appointed by the people was free to do as he thought right during his
year of office, without interference from those who had given him
authority.
But the influence of Gracchus was so great that seventeen out of
thirty-five tribes had already voted that Octavius should be deposed,
when Gracchus stopped the proceedings.
He saw that he was going to win, and he wished to give Octavius the
chance to resign of his own free will.
But when Octavius disdained to accept this suggestion, the voting was
continued, and Octavius was soon declared to be no longer tribune.
The unfortunate man was then dragged from his seat by the servants of
Tiberius, and it was not without trouble that he escaped with his life
from the fury of the people.
Now that the obstinate tribune was out of the way, Gracchus had no
difficulty in passing his bill. But he was so angry with the landowners
for the opposition with which they had treated it, that he dropped the
clause saying they should have compensation for their loss.
Tiberius, his father-in-law Appius Claudius, and his brother Gaius were
now appointed to survey and divide the land in accordance with the bill.
Summer passed, and soon Tiberius would no longer be tribune, and his
enemies rejoiced. For when he was once more a private citizen they
hoped to punish him for deposing Octavius.
But Tiberius did not mean to become a private citizen at the end of his
year of office, if it was possible to avoid doing so.
It was true that it was against the law for a tribune to be re-elected
for a second year. But the people had before now ignored this law, and
Tiberius hoped that they would do so again for his sake. It may be that
Tiberius was anxious to retain his authority, lest the new land law
should suffer were he not able to see that it was enforced.
But the country folk had got what they wished, and would not flock to
the city for the coming elections in such crowds as they had done when
the passing of the law had depended on their presence.
Gracchus would have to depend, for the most part, on the city populace
to vote for him. It was influenced, he was well aware, by the
Optimates, that is, by the party that supported the Senate, so that
Gracchus knew that the chance of re-election was small.
On the day of the election two tribes had, however, already voted for
Gracchus, when the Optimates broke in upon the Assembly, saying that
the proceedings were illegal.
The other tribunes sided with the Optimates, or at least they opposed
the re-election of Gracchus, and, much against his will, Tiberius saw
the election put off until the following day.