A Smaller History of Rome / from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire

by William Smith; Eugene Lawrence

"So perish all who do the like again."

The people may have thought that the brother-in-law of Tiberius would show some sympathy with his reforms and some sorrow for his fate. They were, however, soon undeceived. Being asked in the Assembly of the Tribes by C. Papirius Carbo, the Tribune, who was now the leader of the popular party, what he thought of the death of Tiberius, he boldly replied that "he was justly slain." The people, who had probably expected a different answer, loudly expressed their disapprobation; whereupon Scipio, turning to the mob, bade them be silent, since Italy was only their step-mother.[63] The people did not forget this insult; but such was his influence and authority that the Nobility were able to defeat the bill of Carbo by which the Tribunes might be re-elected as often as the people pleased. Scipio was now regarded as the acknowledged leader of the Nobility, and the latter resolved to avail themselves of his powerful aid to prevent the Agrarian Law of Tiberius from being carried into effect. The Italians were alarmed at the prospect of losing some of their lands, and Scipio skillfully availed himself of the circumstance to propose in the Senate (B.C. 129) that all disputes respecting the lands of the Italians should be taken out of the hands of the Commissioners and transferred to the Consuls. This would have been equivalent to an abrogation of the law, and accordingly the three Commissioners offered the most vehement opposition to his proposal. In the forum he was attacked by Carbo, with the bitterest invectives, as the enemy of the people; and upon his again expressing his approval of the death of Tiberius, the people shouted out, "Down with the tyrant!" In the evening he went home accompanied by the Senate and a great number of the Italians. He retired to his sleeping-room with the intention of composing a speech for the following day. Next morning Rome was thrown into consternation by the news that Scipio was found dead in his room. The most contradictory rumors were circulated respecting his death, but it was the general opinion that he was murdered. Suspicion fell upon various persons, but Carbo was most generally believed to have been the murderer. There was no inquiry into the cause of his death (B.C. 129).

Scipio was only 56 at the time of his death. To the Republic his loss was irreparable. By his last act he had come forward as the patron of the Italians. Had he lived he might have incorporated them in the Roman state, and by forming a united Italy have saved Rome from many of the horrors and disasters which she afterward suffered.

The leaders of the popular party perceived the mistake they had made in alienating the Italians from their cause, and they now secured their adhesion by offering them the Roman citizenship if they would support the Agrarian Law. As Roman citizens they would, of course, be entitled to the benefits of the law, while they would, at the same time, obtain what they had so long desired—an equal share in political power. But the existing citizens, who saw that their own importance would be diminished by an increase in their numbers, viewed such a proposal with the utmost repugnance. So strong was their feeling that, when great numbers of the Italians had flocked to Rome in B.C. 126, the Tribune M. Junius Pennus carried a law that all aliens should quit the city. Caius Gracchus spoke against this law, and his friends still remained faithful to the cause of the Italians. In the following year (B.C. 125), M. Fulvius Flaccus, who was then Consul, brought forward a Reform Bill, granting the Roman citizenship to all the Italian allies. But it was evident that the Tribes would reject this law, and the Senate got rid of the proposer by sending him into Transalpine Gaul, where the Massilians had implored the assistance of Rome against the Salluvians. In the previous year Caius Gracchus had gone to Sardinia as Quæstor, so that the Senate had now removed from Rome two of their most troublesome opponents, and the Italians had lost their two most powerful patrons. Bitter was the disappointment of the Italians. Fregellæ, a town of Latium, and one of the eighteen Latin colonies which had remained faithful to Rome during the Second Punic War, took up arms, but its example was not followed, and it had to bear alone the brunt of the unequal contest. It was quickly reduced by the Prætor L. Opimius; the city was utterly destroyed; and the insurrection, which a slight success would have made universal, was thus nipped in its bud (B.C. 125).

Caius Gracchus had taken very little part in public affairs since his brother's death. He had spoken only twice in public: once in favor of the law of Carbo for the re-election of Tribunes, and a second time in opposition to the Alien Act of Junius Pennus, as already mentioned. But the eyes of the people were naturally turned toward him. His abilities were known, and the Senate dreaded his return to Rome. He had been already two years in Sardinia, and they now attempted to retain him there another year by sending fresh troops to the province, and by commanding the Proconsul to remain in the island. But Caius suddenly appeared at Rome, to the surprise of all parties (B.C. 124). His enemies brought him before the Censors to account for his conduct, but he defended himself so ably that not only was no stigma put upon him, but he was considered to have been very badly used. He showed that he had served in the army twelve years, though required to serve only ten; that he had acted as Quæstor two years, though the law demanded only one year's service; and he added that he was the only soldier who took out with him a full purse and brought it back empty.

Exasperated by the persecution of the Senate, Caius determined to become a candidate for the Tribuneship, and to reform the Roman constitution. He was elected for the year B.C. 123, and lost no time in bringing forward a number of important measures which are known as the Sempronian Laws. His legislation was directed to two objects: the amelioration of the condition of the poor, and the weakening of the power of the Senate. Caius was the greatest orator of all his contemporaries; the contagion of his eloquence was irresistible, and the enthusiasm of the people enabled him to carry every thing before him.

I. His principal laws for improving the condition of the people were:

1. The extension of the Agrarian Law of his brother by planting new colonies in Italy and the provinces.

2. A state provision for the poor, enacting that corn should be sold to every citizen at a price much below its market value. This was the first of the Leges Frumentariæ, which were attended with the most injurious effects. They emptied the treasury, at the same time that they taught the poor to become state paupers, instead of depending upon their own exertions for a living.