Plutarch, Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Caius.8

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[1] ἐπὶ τούτοις τοῦ δήμου μεγαλύνοντος αὐτὸν καὶ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἑτοίμως ἔχοντος ἐνδείκνυσθαι πρὸς εὔνοιαν, ἔφη ποτὲ δημηγορῶν αὐτὸς αἰτήσειν χάριν, ἣν λαβὼν μὲν ἀντὶ παντὸς ἕξειν, εἰ δὲ ἀποτύχοι, μηδὲν ἐκείνοις μεμψιμοιρήσειν. τοῦτο ῥηθὲν ἔδοξεν αἴτησις ὑπατείας εἶναι, καὶ προσδοκίαν πᾶσιν ὡς ἅμα μὲν ὑπατείαν, ἅμα δὲ δημαρχίαν μετιὼν παρέσχεν.

[2] ἐνστάντων δὲ τῶν ὑπατικῶν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν καὶ μετεώρων ὄντων ἁπάντων ὤφθη Γάϊον Φάννιον κατάγων εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ συναρχαιρεσιάζων ἐκείνῳ μετὰ τῶν φίλων, τοῦτο ῥοπὴν ἤνεγκε τῷ Φαννίῳ μεγάλην. κἀκεῖνος μὲν ὕπατος, Γάιος δὲ δήμαρχος ἀπεδείχθη τὸ δεύτερον, οὐ παραγγέλλων οὐδὲ μετιών, ἀλλὰ τοῦ δήμου σπουδάσαντος.

[3]
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἑώρα τὴν μὲν σύγκλητον ἐχθρὰν ἄντικρυς, ἀμβλὺν δὲ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίᾳ τὸν Φάννιον, αὖθις ἑτέροις νόμοις ἀπηρτήσατο τὸ πλῆθος, ἀποικίας μὲν εἷς Τάραντα καὶ Καπύην πέμπεσθαι γράφων, καλῶν δὲ ἐπὶ κοινωνίᾳ πολιτείας τοὺς Λατίνους, ἡ δὲ βουλὴ δείσασα μὴ παντάπασιν ἄμαχος γένηται, καινὴν καὶ ἀσυνήθη πεῖραν ἐπῆγε τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀποτροπῆς, ἀντιδημαγωγοῦσα καὶ χαριζομένη παρὰ τὸ βέλτιστον.

[4] ἦν γὰρ εἷς τῶν τοῦ Γαΐου συναρχόντων Λίβιος Δροῦσος, ἀνὴρ οὔτε γεγονώς τινος Ῥωμαίων οὔτε τεθραμμένος χεῖρον, ἤθει¹ δὲ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ πλούτῳ τοῖς μάλιστα τιμωμένοις καὶ δυναμένοις ἀπὸ τούτων ἐνάμιλλος. ἐπὶ τοῦτον οὖν οἱ γνωριμώτατοι τρέπονται, καὶ παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν ἅψασθαι τοῦ Γαΐου καὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνδρα συστῆναι, μὴ βιαζόμενον μηδὲ ἀντικρούοντα τοῖς πολλοῖς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἄρχοντα καὶ χαριζόμενον ὑπέρ ὧν καὶ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι καλῶς εἶχεν.

Tiberius and Caius Gracchus. Plutarch. Cambridge, MA. 1921.

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Current edition Perseus

Tιβέριος καὶ Γάιος Γράκχοι (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.)

Translations (1)

Tiberius and Caius Gracchus Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.) — Tiberius.8 focus

[1] Of the territory which the Romans won in war from their neighbours, a part they sold, and a part they made common land, and assigned it for occupation to the poor and indigent among the citizens, on payment of a small rent into the public treasury.

[2] And when the rich began to offer larger rents and drove out the poor, a law was enacted forbidding the holding by one person of more than five hundred acres of land. For a short time this enactment gave a check to the rapacity of the rich, and was of assistance to the poor, who remained in their places on the land which they had rented and occupied the allotment which each had held from the outset.

[3] But later on the neighbouring rich men, by means of fictitious personages, transferred these rentals to themselves, and finally held most of the land openly in their own names. Then the poor, who had been ejected from their land, no longer showed themselves eager for military service, and neglected the bringing up of children, so that soon all Italy was conscious of a dearth of freemen, and was filled with gangs of foreign slaves, by whose aid the rich cultivated their estates, from which they had driven away the free citizens.

[4] An attempt was therefore made to rectify this evil, and by Caius Laelius the comrade of Scipio; but the men of influence opposed his measures, and he, fearing the disturbance which might ensue, desisted, and received the surname of Wise or Prudent (for the Latin word sapiens would seem to have either meaning). Tiberius, however, on being elected tribune of the people, took the matter directly in hand. He was incited to this step, as most writers say, by Diophanes the rhetorician and Blossius the philosopher.

[5] Diophanes was an exile from Mitylene, but Blossius was a native Italian from Cumae, had been an intimate friend of Antipater of Tarsus at Rome, and had been honoured by him with the dedication of philosophical treatises. But some put part of the blame upon Cornelia the mother of Tiberius, who often reproached her sons because the Romans still called her the mother-in-law of Scipio, but not yet the mother of the Gracchi.

[6] Others again say that a certain Spurius Postumius was to blame. He was of the same age as Tiberius, and a rival of his in reputation as an advocate; and when Tiberius came back from his campaign and found that his rival had far outstripped him in reputation and influence and was an object of public admiration, he determined, as it would seem, to outdo him by engaging in a bold political measure which would arouse great expectations among the people.

[7] But his brother Caius, in a certain pamphlet,¹ has written that as Tiberius was passing through Tuscany on his way to Numantia, and observed the dearth of inhabitants in the country, and that those who tilled its soil or tended its flocks there were imported barbarian slaves, he then first conceived the public policy which was the cause of countless ills to the two brothers. However, the energy and ambition of Tiberius were most of all kindled by the people themselves, who posted writings on porticoes, house-walls, and monuments, calling upon him to recover for the poor the public land.

[1] Since the people extolled him for all these services and were ready to show him any token whatsoever of their good will, he said to them once in a public harangue that he was going to ask a favour of them, which, if granted, he should value supremely, but if it were refused, he should find no fault with them. This utterance was thought to be a request for a consulship, and led everybody to expect that he would sue for a consulship and a tribuneship at the same time.

[2] But when the consular elections were at hand and everybody was on the tip-toe of expectation, He was seen leading Caius Fannius down into the Campus Martius and joining in the canvass for him along with his friends. This turned the tide strongly in favour of Fannius. So Fannius was elected consul, and Caius tribune for the second time, though he was not a candidate and did not canvass for the office; but the people were eager to have it so.

[3]
However, he soon saw that the senate was hostile to him out and out, and that the good will of Fannius towards him had lost its edge, and therefore again began to attach the multitude to himself by other laws, proposing to send colonies to Tarentum and Capua, and inviting the Latins to a participation in the Roman franchise. But the senate, fearing that Gracchus would become altogether invincible, made a new and unusual attempt to divert the people from him; they vied with him, that is, in courting the favour of the people, and granted their wishes contrary to the best interests of the state.

[4] For one of the colleagues of Caius was Livius Drusus, a man who was not inferior to any Roman either in birth or rearing, while in character, eloquence, and wealth he could vie with those who were most honoured and influential in consequence of these advantages. To this man, accordingly, the nobles had recourse, and invited him to attack Caius and league himself with them against him, not resorting to violence or coming into collision with the people, but administering his office to please them and making them concessions where it would have been honourable to incur their hatred.

Notes on the current edition

Tiberius and Caius Gracchus

1. ἤθει Coraës and Bekker retain the old vulgate ἤδη.

Plutarch Tiberius and Caius Gracchus Caius.8

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