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The Last Years of the Republic

The Punic Wars had several consequences for Roman society. The first was

that large amounts of money began flowing into Rome from her overseas

provinces, making the senatorial class wealthier than ever before. A second and

related consequence was a strain on the system of government. This system,

which had been designed for a small city-state, was not well suited to governing

an empire. Finally, the condition of the farmers became considerably worse.

Many farms were destroyed by Hannibal during his sixteen-year occupation of

Italy; in addition, some men were away so long on military service that their

land fell into disuse or was taken for non-payment of taxes. After Hannibal was

defeated, many veterans could not or did not want to return to the country.

Instead, they moved to Rome and formed a large group of semi-unemployed

citizens. The empty land was taken over by large estates called latifundia,

owned by senators and worked by slaves.

These conditions were a source of concern because free peasant farmers had

always formed the backbone of the Roman army (a man had to own land to

serve in the army!) and because the large numbers of urban poor were a

potential source of social unrest. The first story in this part describes how two

brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, tried to help the landless citizens. While

the Gracchi were undoubtedly well-intentioned, their actions opened the door to

a whole series of illegal actions by various politicians.

Subsequent political strife often took the form of conflicts between the

populārēs (those who favored measures to benefit ordinary people) and the

optimātēs (those who wanted to maintain the power of the senatorial

aristocracy). Individual politicians often exploited the tension between populāres

and optimātēs to enhance their own positions.

The period 133-31 B.C. is dominated by a string of politicians and generals

the Gracchi, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Antony, and Octavian whose

actions caused great suffering for the Roman people. This period, the Late

Republic, saw the expansion of the Roman empire in the eastern half of the

Mediterranean; at the same time, it saw the disintegration of government at

home and the outbreak of civil warfare. The form of government had to be

fundamentally changed before the civil wars could be brought to an end. This

was accomplished by Octavian, who was given the title Augustus and ushered in

a period of autocratic rule known as the Empire.

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Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus You will notice that the author of the following passage is quite hostile toward the Gracchi

and their reforms. This is the attitude that almost all Roman historians took, since they

themselves belonged to the upper class, whose interests had been threatened by the Gracchan

program. Modern historians have found it difficult to provide accurate and objective accounts

of the Gracchi, since all our primary sources are slanted toward the senatorial viewpoint.

Notice also some of the subtle ways in which the author attempts to influence the attitudes of

his readers. What good qualities does he attribute to the Gracchi? How does he use these good

qualities to make the reader take a negative view of the Gracchi?

Tiberius et Gaius Gracchī Scīpiōnis Āfricānī ex fīliā 1

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nepōtēs erant. Hōrum adulēscentia bonīs artibus et magnā 2

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omnium spē exacta est; ad ēgregiam enim indolem optima 3

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accēdēbat ēducātiō. Erant enim dīligentiā Cornēliae mātris 4

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ā puerīs doctī et Graecīs litterīs ērudītī. Maximum matrōnīs 5

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ōrnāmentum esse līberōs bene īnstitūtōs meritō 6

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putābat māter illa sapientissima. Cum Campāna mātrōna, 7

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apud illam hospita, ōrnāmenta sua, illō saeculō pulcherrima, 8

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ostentāret eī muliebriter, Cornēlia trāxit eam sermōne, 9

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quōusque ē scholā redīrent līberī. Quōs reversōs 10

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hospitae ostendēns, "Haec," inquit, "mea ōrnāmenta sunt." 11

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Nihil quidem hīs adulēscentibus neque ā nātūrā neque ā 12

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doctrinā dēfuit; sed ambō rem pūblicam, quam tuērī poteant, 13

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perturbāre māluērunt. 14

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5

The Gracchi brothers with their mother Cornelia

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Tiberius Gracchus, tribūnus plēbis creātus, ā senātū 15

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dēscīvit; populī favōrem profūsīs largītiōnibus sibi conciliavit; 16

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agrōs plēbī dividēbat, prōvinciās novīs colōniīs replēbat. 17

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Cum autem tribūniciam potestātem sibi prōrogārī vellet 18

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et palam dictitāsset, interēmptō senātū omnia per 19

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plēbem agī dēbēre, viam sibi ad regnum parāre vidēbātur. 20

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Quā rē cum convocātī patrēs dēlīberārent quidnam faciendum 21

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esset, statim Tiberius Capitōlium petit, manum ad caput 22

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referēns, quō signō salūtem suam populō commendābat. 23

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Hoc nōbilitās ita accēpit, quasi diadēma posceret, segniterque 24

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cessante cōnsule, Scīpiō Nāsīca, cum esset cōnsōbrīnus 25

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Tiberiī Gracchī, patriam cognātiōnī praeferēns 26

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sublātā dextrā prōclāmāvit: "Quī rem pūblicam salvam esse 27

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volunt, mē sequantur!" Dein optimātēs, senātus atque 28

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ē questrīs ōrdinis pars maior in Gracchum irruunt, quī 29

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fugiēns decurrēnsque clīvō Capitōlīnō frāgmentō subselliī 30

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ictus vītam, quam glōriōsissimē degere potuerat, immātūrā 31

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morte finēvit. Mortuī Tiberiī corpus in flūmen prōiectum 32

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est. 33

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The Gracchi Brothers: Tiberius and Gaius Cornelia with Tiberius and Gaius

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Gaium Gracchum īdem furor, quī frātrem Tiberium, occupāvit. 34

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Tribūnātum enim adeptus, seu vindicandae frāternae 35

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necis, seu comparandae rēgiae potentiae causā, 36

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pessima coepit inīre cōnsilia; maximās largītiōnēs fēcit; 37

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aerārium effūdit; legem dē frūmentō plēbī dīvidendō tulit; 38

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cīvitātem omnibus Italicīs dabat. Hīs Gracchī cōnsiliīs 39

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quantā poterant contentiōne, obsistēbant omnēs bonī, in 40

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quibus māximē Pīsō, vir cōnsulāris. Is cum multa contrā 41

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lēgem frūmentāriam dixisset, lēge tamen lātā, ad frūmentum 42

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cum cēteris accipiendum vēnit. Gracchus, ubi animadvertit 43

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in cōntiōne Pīsōnem stantem, eum sīc compellāvit audiente 44

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populō Rōmānō: "Quī tibi cōnstat, Pīsō, cum eā lēge 45

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frūmentum petās, quam dissuāsistī?" Cui Pīsō, "Nōlim quidem, 46

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Gracche," inquit, "mea bona tibi virītim dīvidere 47

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liceat; sed sī faciēs, partem petam." Quō respōnsō apertē 48

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dēclārāvit vir gravis et sapiēns, lēge, quam tulerat Gracchus, 49

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patrimōnium pūblicum dissipārī. 50

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Dēcrētum ā senātu est, ut vidēret cōnsul Opīmius, nē 51

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quid dētrīmentī rēs pūblica caperet; quod nisi in maximō 52

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discrimine dēcernī nōn solēbat. Gaius Gracchus, armātā 53

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famliā, Aventinum occupāvit. Consul, vocātō ad arma 54

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populō, Gaium aggressus est, quī pulsus profūgit et, cum 55

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iam comprehenderētur, iugulum servō praebuit, quī 56

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dominum et mox sēmet ipsum super dominī corpus interēmit. 57

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Ut Tiberiī Gracchi anteā corpus, ita Gaiī mīrā 58

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crūdēlitāte victōrum in Tiberim dēiectum est; caput autem 59

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ā Septimuleiō, amīcō Gracchī, ad Opīmium relātum aurō 60

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repēnsum fertur. Sunt quī trādunt īnfūsō plumbō eum 61

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partem capitis, quō gravius efficerētur, explēsse. 62

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