Without his usual base of supporters, Tiberius turned to the urban population for the votes he needed. Land reform had never been of much interest to the urban plebs, so Tiberius broadened his platform to include further limits on military service, the right to appeal the verdicts of judges, and barring senators from serving on juries. This last drew one of the great political battle lines of the late Republic, though for the moment it was an empty suggestion not yet acted upon.54
Ever dramatic, Tiberius donned black mourning clothes in the lead-up to the election and again went round with his children securing pledges from his supporters to protect them if something were to happen. The night before the final election, Tiberius slept surrounded by armed bodyguards.55
Early the next morning, Tiberius’s supporters packed the area near the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill to ensure they controlled the voting space. Accompanied by bodyguards, Tiberius himself arrived and was greeted by cheers and applause from the crowd. When opponents of Tiberius arrived, they found themselves unable to push through the pro-Gracchan mob. Prevented from accessing the voting stalls, when the anti-Gracchan voters heard the call for the tribes to begin voting, scuffles erupted on the edge of the crowd as opponents tried to push their way in. The fighting halted the voting.56
Meanwhile, the Senate convened for a session in the Temple of Fides, located just around the corner on the Capitoline. Rumors swirled that Tiberius had deposed all the other tribunes and was preparing to assume regal powers. The consul presiding over the Senate that morning was none other than Mucius Scaevola—one of the authors of the Lex Agraria. Nasica and the hard-liners in the Senate demanded Scaevola do something, but the consul replied that “he would resort to no violence and would put no citizen to death without a trial; if, however, the people, under persuasion or compulsion from Tiberius, should vote anything that was unlawful, he would not regard this vote as binding.”57
This was not good enough for the incensed Nasica, who rose in response and said, “Let those who would save our country follow me.” Nasica then donned the formal attire of the pontifex maximus and put himself at the head of a mob of like-minded senators and clients. Together they marched to the Temple of Jupiter. As weapons were not permitted to be carried inside the Pomerium—the sacred city limits—Nasica and his followers armed themselves mostly with table legs and other bludgeons. Though the coming attack was not premeditated, it was clear they were willing to use force to beat back the mob trying to make Tiberius Gracchus king of Rome.58
Meanwhile, up on the rostra, Tiberius was warned about the approaching mob. Tiberius’s men turned and readied for battle, but hesitated when they saw the mob included senators and was led by the pontifex maximus himself. Though the Gracchans started to give way, Nasica’s men aggressively pushed and beat the crowd anyway. Once the shoving and hitting began, Tiberius’s supporters naturally fought back, leading to a line of clashes throughout the Assembly. The casualties in the resulting mêlée were entirely one-sided—Tiberius’s people were unarmed and made easy targets for Nasica’s gang. Trapped in the confined space in front of the Temple of Jupiter, many people were trampled underfoot or fell to their deaths off the steep cliffs of the Capitoline. When the dust cleared three hundred people lay dead.59
The principal target of the attack was, of course, Tiberius himself, and it didn’t take long for the reactionary senators to locate their prey. Near the entrance of the Temple of Jupiter, Tiberius tripped over the body of a man who had already fallen and before he could get up, he was set upon by a fellow tribune and a senator. Though he was a tribune and allegedly sacrosanct, these two men proceeded to beat Tiberius Gracchus to death with the legs of a bench. As the historian Appian records: “So perished on the Capitol, and while still tribune, Gracchus, the son of that Gracchus who was twice consul, and of Cornelia, daughter of that Scipio who robbed Carthage of her supremacy. He lost his life in consequence of a most excellent design too violently pursued; and this abominable crime, the first that was perpetrated in the public assembly, was seldom without parallels thereafter from time to time.”60
IT WAS ONE of the bloodiest days in Roman political history, though Plutarch overstates things when he says, “This is said to have been the first sedition at Rome, since the abolition of royal power, to end in bloodshed and the death of citizens.” But at least in living memory Roman politics had always been waged without resorting to violence. Now hundreds of citizens lay dead on the Capitoline Hill. Whatever one felt about Tiberius Gracchus and his Lex Agraria, it must have been a shocking sight.61
The principal cause of the crisis of 133 was a dangerous game of mutual brinksmanship. Tiberius had bypassed the Senate, so Octavius vetoed the reading of the bill, so Tiberius shut down all public business. When Octavius remained intractable, Tiberius deposed him from office, so the Senate denied the land commission money to operate, so Tiberius seized the bequeath from Pergamum, and then ran for reelection. All of this culminated with Nasica leading an armed mob to kill three hundred people. In just a few short months, a simple land redistribution bill had escalated to violent massacre.
The Senate made no apologies for the attack. Tiberius and his dead supporters were denied traditional funeral arrangements and dumped en masse into the Tiber. This was, in itself, a shocking affront to tradition. The Gracchi were still a powerful noble family; denying their son a proper burial was fraught with religious and social implications. But the story was now that Tiberius had been trying to make himself king—the most taboo of political offices. And the Senate determined that they could not afford a funereal becoming a venue for renewing violent revolution.62
With all the taboos of mos maiorum now breaking down left and right, “this was the beginning in Rome of civil bloodshed, and of the license of the sword.” The definitive triumph of naked force was a lesson no one could unlearn. As the ancient Greek historian Velleius Paterculus later observed: “Precedents do not stop where they begin, but, however narrow the path upon which they enter, they create for themselves a highway whereon they may wander with the utmost latitude… no one thinks a course is base for himself which has proven profitable to others.”63
For when those in power act cruelly and wickedly, the character of their subjects is inflamed to reckless action… if they are denied the kindness which they deserve, they revolt against the men who act like cruel despots.
DIODORUS1
THE YEAR 132 BC DAWNED WITH THE SENATE READY TO bury the revolution of Tiberius Gracchus. They created a special commission whose purpose was to punish those who had supported Tiberius’s illegal bid for monarchy. This commission would be led by the new consuls—Publius Rupilius and Publius Popilius Laenas—who were given the authority to pass capital sentences. But there were questions about the legality of this extraordinary tribunal. According to the ancient Law of the Twelve Tables, “Laws concerning capital punishment of a citizen shall not be passed… except by the Assembly.” Neither the Senate nor the consuls had the right to bring capital charges against citizens on their own authority—but here they were, doing it anyway.2