The Historians' History of the World 05 [The Roman Republic]

[131-130 B.C.]

Early in the same year, however (131 B.C.), an incident occurred which also parted Scipio from Crassus. The consuls for the year were Crassus himself and L. Valerius Flaccus. The former was pontifex maximus, the latter was flamen of Mars. It happened that one Aristonicus, a bastard son of the last Eumenes, had raised an insurrection in the mountain districts near Pergamus, and matters had become so serious that a consular army was required. Both consuls were eager for command; but by reason of their sacred offices they were both legally unable to leave Italy, and Scipio’s tried skill in war pointed him out as the fittest man for command. Yet such was the popularity of Crassus, that out of thirty-five tribes, two only voted for Scipio and the rest for him. Considering a vote of the people as superior to the law, he completed his levies and set out for Pergamus, never to return. Scipio retired from Rome in disgust.

In this same year the censorship was held by Q. Metellus and Q. Pompeius—an event noted by all the historians as memorable, since now for the first time two men of plebeian blood were elected to the most august magistracy of the state. It is rather matter of wonder that an artificial distinction, which for all practical purposes was obsolete, should have been so long retained in the censorship, than that it should now have ceased.

If Crassus had returned, he might have taken more active steps to diminish the violence which the democratic leaders were beginning to encourage. But early in the year 130 B.C. he was defeated by Aristonicus in a pitched battle, and taken prisoner. The Roman statesman and jurist, deeming slavery intolerable, purposely struck the barbarian who had captured him in the face with his sword-belt, and was instantly cut down. His head was carried to Aristonicus, his body interred at Smyrna.

About the same time died App. Claudius. The natural leader of the Gracchan party would now have been C. Gracchus. But this young man had withdrawn from public life at the advice of his mother Cornelia. Consequently fresh power fell into the hands of the reckless Carbo, who was supported by Fulvius Flaccus; and the whole character of the party became more positively democratic.

These leaders sought to recover their popularity with the country tribes by calling the Agrarian law into fresh life. Of the three commissioners elected for the year C. Gracchus still appeared on the list; the vacancies made by the deaths of Crassus and App. Claudius were filled by Carbo and Flaccus.

The rich landholders had endeavoured to baffle the law by passive resistance. To foil this policy, Carbo and his colleagues issued a proclamation, calling for information against all who had not duly registered themselves as holders of public land. The call was readily obeyed, and the triumvirs were soon overburdened with names. The next step was to decide on the rights of the present holders, and to determine the boundaries between the private and the public lands in each estate. This was a task of extreme delicacy, and here the loss of Crassus was sensibly felt. The ignorant and reckless Carbo raised up a host of formidable opponents.

Scipio leaving Rome

[130-129 B.C.]

Portions of the public land had often been alienated by grant or sale. The holders were now, in consequence of Carbo’s proclamation, suddenly called upon to produce their title deeds, which in many cases were missing; so that a vast number of these holders were liable to be stripped of lands which were undoubtedly their own. Further, in cases where persons held property partly public and partly private, there were often no documents to show which part was public and which private. The commissioners acted in the most arbitrary way, and exasperated a vast number of persons throughout all Italy; and thus a new popular party was called forth, which exercised a most important influence on the events of the next fifty years. In Carbo’s rash haste to win the Roman countrymen he recked not of the hostility of Latins and Italians; and those who had lately worshipped Gracchus now rose like one man to oppose those who now pretended to represent Gracchus.

These new opponents of the Agrarian law had no mind to join the Roman oligarchs, but turned to Scipio and supplicated him to undertake their cause. They had claims upon him, for they had volunteered to fill his army when the senate had no money to give him, and he had always manifested sympathy with them. Averse as he was from party politics, he did not shrink from the task, and the moderate party in the senate welcomed his return. He began by moving that a decree should issue for withdrawing from the triumvirs the judicial power with which they had been invested by Gracchus, and transferring the jurisdiction to the consuls. The decree passed, and the task was committed to C. Sempronius Tuditanus, a man of refined taste, fonder of art and literature than of business. But news came of a movement among the Iapydes, a people on the Illyrian frontier; and Tuditanus eagerly seized this excuse for hastening to Aquileia, feeling confident that he could better cope with barbarous enemies than with the more barbarous perplexities of the law.

[129 B.C.]

All proceedings were thus cut short. The senate had taken away jurisdiction from the triumvirs; the consul to whom it was committed had fled. General discontent arose. Scipio was accused of having betrayed Roman interests to the Italians. His enemies spread reports that he had sold himself to the oligarchy, that he intended to repeal the Sempronian law by force, and let loose his Italian soldiery upon the people of Rome.