Tiberius Gracchus

Also known as: Tiberius · Family: Rome · Role: Roman leader · First appears: Agis

Immediately on attaining manhood, Tiberius accepted Appius Claudius’s proposal to marry Claudia. He was also married to Cornelia, who bore him twelve children, and was the son of tiberiusfather and the elder brother of Caius Gracchus by nine years. He served in Africa under Scipio Africanus, first as his kinsman and friend, though their relationship later became hostile; at Numantia, alongside Caius Mancinus, he negotiated conditions that “saved twenty thousand of the Roman citizens.”

As tribune, Tiberius pursued his land law with the encouragement of Diophanes and Blossius. Appius Claudius and Caius Gracchus joined him as commissioners after the law was ratified, while Marcus Octavius, once his intimate friend and fellow tribune, became his rival and was deprived of his tribuneship after refusing to allow the vote. Tiberius also faced opposition from Spurius Postumius, Titus Annius, and Publius Nasica, while Marcus Crassus, Mucius Scaevola, and Appius Claudius were among those associated with his cause; Manlius, Fulvius, and Pompeius stood before him during the conflict.

Tiberius was killed during a violent attack at the capitol. Publius Satureius struck the first fatal blow, and Lucius Rufus claimed the second “as though it had been a deed to be proud of.” Before long, the people ordered public statues for Tiberius and Caius Gracchus and consecrated the places where they were slain.