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Chapter 45 : CIVIL STRIFE IN ITALY, AND FOREIGN WARS, ENDING IN REVOLUTION 133-44 B.C.B1 THE GRACCHI

CIVIL STRIFE IN ITALY, AND FOREIGN WARS, ENDING IN REVOLUTION 133-44 B.C.

B1

THE GRACCHI.

Nam postquam Tiberius et C. Gracchus, quorum maiores Punico atque aliis bellis multum rei publicae addiderant, vindicare plebem in libertatem et paucorum celera patefacere coepere, n.o.bilitas noxia atque eo perculsa, modo per socios et nomen Latinum, {5} interdum per equites Romanos, quos spes societatis a plebe dimoverat, Gracchorum actionibus obviam ierat, et primo Tiberium, dein paucos post annos eadem ingredientem Gaium, tribunum alterum, alterum triumvirum coloniis deducendis, c.u.m M. {10} Fulvio Flacco ferro necaverat. Et sane Gracchis cupidine victoriae haud satis moderatus animus fuit. Sed bono vinci satius est quam malo more iniuriam vincere. Igitur ea victoria n.o.bilitas ex lubidine sua usa multos mortales ferro aut fuga exstinxit plusque {15} in reliquum sibi timoris quam potentiae addidit. Quae res plerumque magnas civitates pessum dedit, dum alteri alteros vincere quovis modo et victos acerbius ulcisci volunt.

SALl.u.s.t, _Jugurtha_, 42.

[Linenotes: 1-3. +quorum maiores ... addiderant+, e.g. their grandfather P.

Scipio Africa.n.u.s Maior, and their father Tib. Semp.r.o.nius Gracchus (in Spain and Sardinia).

3-4. +paucorum scelera ... coepere.+ (i) Tib. Gracchus by his Agrarian Law tried to counteract the selfish land-grabbing of the ruling cla.s.s (in excess of the 500 _iugera_ limit of the Licinian Laws, 367 B.C.). (ii) C. Gracchus exposed the corrupt Senatorian Courts, transferred their judicial power to the Equites, and carried the Semp.r.o.nian Law, 'one of the cornerstones of individual liberty.'

5. +per socios ... Latinum+, by working on Roman jealousy against the Italians, for whom equality was claimed.

6. +spes societatis+, i.e. the hope of sharing with the n.o.bility in office, and in provincial appointments.

10. +triumvirum c. d.+, one of the three Commissioners for establis.h.i.+ng Colonies of Roman citizens on the _ager publicus_.

11. +Fulvio Flacco+, slain with C. Gracchus, 121 B.C.

17. +pessum dedit+ = _has destroyed_. _pessum_ (prob.) = _pedis_ + _versum_ = _towards the feet, to the ground_, cf. _pessum ire_.]

+The aim of the Gracchi.+ 'Their object was to reduce the excessive power of the n.o.bility, and to make the sovereignty of the people, which had become merely nominal, a reality.' --Ihne.

+Their political mistake.+ 'Their error consisted in the belief that such a change was possible by returning to the simple forms of the old Comitia. They overlooked the necessity of +remodelling the Roman people itself+ by giving the popular a.s.semblies a form which would in reality make them represent the people.' --Ihne.

B2

CICERO ON THE GRACCHI.

A. _On the Death of Tiberius Gracchus, 133 B.C._

Nec plus Africa.n.u.s, singularis et vir et imperator, in exscindenda Numantia rei publicae profuit quam eodem tempore P. Nasica privatus, c.u.m Ti. Gracchum interemit.

_De Off._ i. 76.

[Linenotes: 2. +Numantia+, destroyed by P. Scipio Africa.n.u.s Minor Numantinus, 133 B.C.

3. +P. Nasica+, a partisan leader of the Senate. +privatus+ = _not in office_. Cicero speaks very differently of the Gracchi when it suits his purpose, e.g. in _de lege agraria_, ii. -- 10, _duos (Gracchos) clarissimos, ingeniosissimos, amantissimos plebei Romanae viros ... quorum consiliis, sapientia, legibus multas esse video partes const.i.tutas_.]

B. _On the Lex Frumentaria of C. Gracchus, 123 B.C._

Et quidem C. Gracchus, c.u.m largitiones maximas {5} fecisset et effudisset aerarium, verbis tamen defendebat aerarium. Quid verba audiam, c.u.m facta videam? L. Piso ille Frugi semper contra legem frumentariam dixerat. Is lege lata consularis ad frumentum accipiendum venerat. Animum advert.i.t {10} Gracchus in contione Pisonem stantem: quaerit audiente populo Romano qui sibi constet, c.u.m ea lege frumentum petat, quam dissuaserit. 'Nolim' inquit 'mea bona, Gracche, tibi viritim dividere libeat, sed si facias, partem petam.' Parumne declaravit vir {15} gravis et sapiens lege Semp.r.o.nia patrimonium public.u.m dissipari?

Lege orationes Gracchi, patronum aerari esse dices.

_Tusc. Disput._ iii. 20, 48.

[Linenotes: 8. +L. Piso ille Frugi+ = L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi (the man of _worth_), a convinced and honourable opponent of C. Gracchus.

8-9. +legem frumentariam+, by which corn was sold to Roman citizens at about half the market price. 'One of the worst measures ever proposed by a well-meaning statesman.' --Ihne.

12. +qui+ = _how_, old abl. of _qui_.]

C. _On C. Gracchus as an Orator._

Sed ecce in manibus vir et praestantissimo ingenio et flagranti studio et doctus a puero, C. Gracchus. Noli enim putare quemquam. Brute, pleniorem et uberiorem ad dicendum fuisse.

_Brutus_, 125.

[Linenote: 20. +doctus a puero.+ CORNELIA MATER GRACCHORUM (inscribed upon her statue erected by the Roman people), the daughter of the Conqueror of Zama, was mainly responsible for their training and education; so Cic. _Brut._ 104 _Fuit Tib. Gracchus diligentia matris a puero doctus et Graecis literis eruditus_. 'From her they had received that sensitive nature and that sympathy with the weak and suffering, which animated their political action.' --Ihne.]

B3

THE JUGURTHINE WAR, 111-106 B.C.

_The Betrayal of Jugurtha, 106 B.C._

Postea, tempore et loco const.i.tuto, in colloquium uti de pace veniretur, Bocchus Sullam modo, modo Iugurthae legatum appellare, benigne habere, idem ambobus polliceri. Illi pariter laeti ac spei bonae pleni esse. Sed nocte ea, quae proxuma fuit ante {5} diem colloquio decretum, Maurus, adhibitis amicis ac statim immutata voluntate remotis, dicitur sec.u.m ipse multa agitavisse, voltu et oculis pariter atque animo varius: quae scilicet tacente ipso occulta pectoris patefecisse. Tamen postremo Sullam accersi {10} iubet et ex illius sententia Numidae insidias tendit. Deinde ubi dies advenit et ei nuntiatum est Iugurtham haud procul abesse, c.u.m paucis amicis et quaestore nostro quasi obvius honoris causa procedit in tumulum facillumum visu insidiantibus. Eodem {15} Numida c.u.m plerisque necessariis suis inermis, uti dictum erat, accedit; ac statim signo dato undique simul ex insidiis invaditur.

Ceteri obtruncati, Iugurtha Suilae vinctus traditur et ab eo ad Marium deductus est. {20}

SALl.u.s.t, _Jugurtha_, 113.

[Linenotes: 2. +Bocchus+, King of Mauretania, and father-in-law of Jugurtha, coveted the West of Numidia, and was ready to accept it either from the Romans or from Jugurtha, as the price of his alliance.

+Sullam+, appointed Quaestor 107 B.C. by Marius, who superseded Metellus in the conduct of the Jugurthine War.

9. +quae scilicet ... patefecisse+, i.e. the external signs of his irresolution,--the calling and then dismissing his people (+adhibitis ... remotis+, ll. 6, 7), and the changes of his countenance (+voltu ... varius+, ll. 8, 9). +Scilicet+ is here used with the Infinitive +patefecisse+, the verbal sense of the word (= _scire_ + _licet_) being prominent.

10. +accersi+ (= _arcessiri_), frequent in Sall.u.s.t.

16. +necessariis+ (_necesse_) = _friends_. Cf. ??a??a??? (??????).

19. +Iugurtha Sullae ... traditur.+ Sulla is said to have been so proud of this stratagem that he had the scene engraved upon a signet-ring, an act of vainglory which estranged Marius from him.

(Plutarch, _Sulla_, 3.)]

+Jugurtha.+ 'Having resisted the whole power of the great Republic for six years, having kept his ground against the best generals of the time, against a Metellus, a Marius, and a Sulla, he was deluded by treacherous promises of peace and betrayed by his own ally and father-in-law.'

--Ihne.

B4

A. _Arpinum--Birthplace of Cicero and Marius._

Hic novus Arpinas, ign.o.bilis et modo Romae 237 Munic.i.p.alis eques, galeatum ponit ubique Praesidium attonitis et in omni monte laborat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . Sed Roma parentem, 243 Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit.

Arpinas alius Volscorum in monte solebat 245 Poscere mercedes alieno la.s.sus aratro, Nodosam post haec frangebat vertice vitem, Si lentus pigra muniret castra dolabra; Hic tamen et Cimbros et summa pericula rerum Excipit et solus trepidantem protegit urbem. 250

JUVENAL, _Sat._ viii. 237-239, 243-250.

[Linenotes: 239. +in omni monte+, i.e. in every part of Rome, on each of the seven hills.

244. +patrem patriae:+ under the Empire the t.i.tle _pater patriae_ became a formal one, always accorded to the new Emperor.

+libera+ = _while yet free_, emphatic. The State was no longer free when Augustus received this t.i.tle, 2 B.C.--Duff.