Read Online From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 by H. H. Scullard - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: H. H. Scullard
Tags: Humanities
Ads: Link
landowners that Laelius dropped it; according to one tradition he gained the
cognomen
of Sapiens for this act of political expediency.
Scipio also showed a similar moderation. The final fate of Carthage, which he had witnessed at close quarters during the last six days of bitter street-fighting, had impressed him with the impermanence of great empires, even those with mixed constitutions as that of Carthage, and he may have begun to harbour some fears for Rome’s future. He wanted to maintain the existing stability and the traditional balance of society. Thus in order to restore the peasant-farmer he was willing to check the growing greed of the landowners, but he would not push the issue to an open conflict when he realized the strength of the opposition to Laelius’ proposal.
After Laelius’ failure, however, some senators continued to work for reform, but so far from coming from Scipio’s supporters they were in opposition to the dominant Scipionic group. The political fortunes of the various groups fluctuated at the elections during the next few years, when some important reforms were carried: in 139 secret ballot was established for elections and this principle was extended to the judicial assemblies of the People in 137. 3 These measures would clearly give the People greater freedom from pressure by the nobles. If Scipio’s political power varied during these years, a series of military disasters and scandals in Spain soon gave him a chance to win further glory in war; a tried soldier was needed to bring the Spanish wars to a decisive end, and the obvious man was the conqueror of Carthage. So in 134 Scipio became consul for a second time, after receiving from the People a special dispensation from a law of 151 which prohibited such re-elections. While he was absent in Spain, the reform party in Rome acted. 4
2. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS
The lead was taken by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, one of the tribunes of 133 B.C. He belonged to a distinguished family. His grandfather, the elder Scipio Africanus, had conquered Hannibal; his mother Cornelia, 5 Scipio’s daughter, was a lady of wide culture. His father, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, embodied many of the older Roman virtues: a good soldier and provincial governor, he had brought a Celtiberian war to a successful end, established peace there for a generation, and reduced Sardinia; twice consul (177; 163), he had been censor in 169. After his death in 154 Cornelia refused an offer ofmarriage from the reigning king of Egypt, Ptolemy Physcon, and devoted herself to the education of her children, Tiberius (born
c.
163), Gaius (some ten years younger), and their elder sister Sempronia (who married Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted son of Publius, a son of the elder Africanus). An admirer of Greek culture, Cornelia employed Greek tutors for her children; one, an eminent rhetorician Diophanes, who was a political exile from Mitylene, taught the boys oratory, an art in which they soon excelled. Another formative influence on Tiberius’ life was Blossius of Cumae, a Stoic philosopher and a member of a distinguished ‘liberal’ family which in earlier days had supported the democratic anti-Roman party at Capua. 6 In Rome, where he had settled as a guest (
hospes
) in the family of P. Mucius Scaevola, he won the friendship of Tiberius who will have been impressed by his family tradition of democracy and independence, perhaps even more than by his Stoicism.
Tiberius, who became an augur at the age of ten, served with distinction under his brother-in-law Aemilianus at the siege of Carthage (146) and married Claudia, daughter of the Princeps Senatus, Appius Claudius Pulcher. His quaestorship in 137, when he served under Hostilius Mancinus in Spain, had a twofold importance. It was while he was travelling through Etruria on his way to Spain that, seeing the large estates worked by slaves and noting the absence of free peasants, he realized the need for reform. After he had reached
cognomen
of Sapiens for this act of political expediency.
Scipio also showed a similar moderation. The final fate of Carthage, which he had witnessed at close quarters during the last six days of bitter street-fighting, had impressed him with the impermanence of great empires, even those with mixed constitutions as that of Carthage, and he may have begun to harbour some fears for Rome’s future. He wanted to maintain the existing stability and the traditional balance of society. Thus in order to restore the peasant-farmer he was willing to check the growing greed of the landowners, but he would not push the issue to an open conflict when he realized the strength of the opposition to Laelius’ proposal.
After Laelius’ failure, however, some senators continued to work for reform, but so far from coming from Scipio’s supporters they were in opposition to the dominant Scipionic group. The political fortunes of the various groups fluctuated at the elections during the next few years, when some important reforms were carried: in 139 secret ballot was established for elections and this principle was extended to the judicial assemblies of the People in 137. 3 These measures would clearly give the People greater freedom from pressure by the nobles. If Scipio’s political power varied during these years, a series of military disasters and scandals in Spain soon gave him a chance to win further glory in war; a tried soldier was needed to bring the Spanish wars to a decisive end, and the obvious man was the conqueror of Carthage. So in 134 Scipio became consul for a second time, after receiving from the People a special dispensation from a law of 151 which prohibited such re-elections. While he was absent in Spain, the reform party in Rome acted. 4
2. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS
The lead was taken by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, one of the tribunes of 133 B.C. He belonged to a distinguished family. His grandfather, the elder Scipio Africanus, had conquered Hannibal; his mother Cornelia, 5 Scipio’s daughter, was a lady of wide culture. His father, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, embodied many of the older Roman virtues: a good soldier and provincial governor, he had brought a Celtiberian war to a successful end, established peace there for a generation, and reduced Sardinia; twice consul (177; 163), he had been censor in 169. After his death in 154 Cornelia refused an offer ofmarriage from the reigning king of Egypt, Ptolemy Physcon, and devoted herself to the education of her children, Tiberius (born
c.
163), Gaius (some ten years younger), and their elder sister Sempronia (who married Scipio Aemilianus, the adopted son of Publius, a son of the elder Africanus). An admirer of Greek culture, Cornelia employed Greek tutors for her children; one, an eminent rhetorician Diophanes, who was a political exile from Mitylene, taught the boys oratory, an art in which they soon excelled. Another formative influence on Tiberius’ life was Blossius of Cumae, a Stoic philosopher and a member of a distinguished ‘liberal’ family which in earlier days had supported the democratic anti-Roman party at Capua. 6 In Rome, where he had settled as a guest (
hospes
) in the family of P. Mucius Scaevola, he won the friendship of Tiberius who will have been impressed by his family tradition of democracy and independence, perhaps even more than by his Stoicism.
Tiberius, who became an augur at the age of ten, served with distinction under his brother-in-law Aemilianus at the siege of Carthage (146) and married Claudia, daughter of the Princeps Senatus, Appius Claudius Pulcher. His quaestorship in 137, when he served under Hostilius Mancinus in Spain, had a twofold importance. It was while he was travelling through Etruria on his way to Spain that, seeing the large estates worked by slaves and noting the absence of free peasants, he realized the need for reform. After he had reached
Similar Books
![MINE! [New World Book 8]](https://fs.dianahicksbooks.com/503196/thumbs/152x264/mine-new-world-book-8.jpg)
