Blackwell Reference Online

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In 137, the consul C. Hostilius Mancinus with his army faced annihilation near Numantia in Spain. The Numantines, however, offered mercy, if terms were vouched for by his quaestor, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus. Tiberius’ father (consul 177, 163; censor 169), as governor in Spain (180-178), had gained the trust of that unhappy and exploited province; his mother, Cornelia, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus. Tiberius now negotiated a peace that sent the Romans away under the yoke. The Senate, however, disavowed the treaty, and ordered the hapless consul handed over to the enemy, on the motion of Scipio Aemilianus - Tiberius’ brother-in-law. It dealt a stunning blow to Tiberius’ dignitas (“public reputation, prestige”). To a Roman noble, a slight such as this called for retaliation (Cic. Har. resp. 43; Plut. Ti. Gracch. 5-7).For centuries, the ager publicus (“public land”) of the Roman People had been available to private users, whether Roman citizens or allies, for a fee payable to the state. Marginal farmers relied on it to make ends meet (their own plots often being insufficient); large-scale operators used it to round out scattered possessions or increase grazing pasture, often buying - or pushing - small neighbors off the public land they occupied (App. B Civ. 1.7-8; Plut. Ti. Gracch. 8.1-4).On December 10, 134, Tiberius Gracchus, barely 30, took office as tribune of the plebs. By ... log in or subscribe to read full text