The Storm Before the Storm полностью

This bold gambit sent conservatives in the Senate through the roof. By every right of custom the Senate enjoyed full discretion over both state finances and foreign policy. Polybius, a close student of the Republican constitution, said the Senate “has the control of the treasury, all revenue and expenditure being regulated by it,” and “it also occupies itself with the dispatch of all embassies sent to countries outside of Italy for the purpose… of settling differences.” The people, he said, “have nothing to do with it.” By laying claim to Pergamum, Tiberius was attempting to wrestle both away at the same time. The Senate met in a furious session to denounce Tiberius as a reckless demagogue aiming to make himself a tyrannical despot.⁵¹

Soon after, either to retain the legal immunity his office provided or to protect the integrity of the land commission (or both), Tiberius made another shocking announcement: he was going to run for reelection. No law forbade a tribune from serving consecutive terms, but the overwhelming force of mos maiorum made his bid unprecedented. To his political enemies, this was all iron-clad proof that Tiberius planned to make himself a tyrant. If he controlled the state finances, distribution of property, foreign policy, and claimed the right to permanent reelection, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus would be the king of Rome in all but name.⁵²

UNFORTUNATELY FOR TIBERIUS, his political strength was at an all-time low as the summer elections approached in 133. During the battles over the Lex Agraria he had been able to count on a solid block of rural voters to stand with him. Perhaps it was because harvest was then in full swing that Tiberius had difficulty remobilizing his supporters for another contentious vote. Just as likely, however, is that conservatives now decided that Tiberius must be denied reelection at all cost. If they let it be known that they no longer opposed the Lex Agraria and land redistribution would go forward whether Tiberius was tribune or not, the urgency of the coming election would be undercut and many voters would stay home.⁵³

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