26. Younger Brother Follows He Older Brother’s Lead, and Shares His Fate
Tiberius Gracchus’ younger brother Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (154 – 121 BC) followed in his older brother’s footsteps. He became a tribune of the plebes, a populares politician advancing the cause of the plebeians, and an advocate of agrarian reform. He also followed his older brother’s footsteps and became a victim of political violence, when the conservative Roman Senate and the optimates plotted his assassination.
Gaius Gracchus was elected a tribune of the plebes in 123 BC. He used the popular assemblies to push through his brother’s agrarian reforms, and advocated other measures to lessen the power of the senatorial nobility. He also pushed through legislation to provide all Romans with subsidized wheat. He was reelected tribune in 122 BC. In 121 BC, the Senate again organized a riot to go after a turbulent tribune. After one of his supporters was killed, Gaius Gracchus and his followers retreated to the Aventine Hill, the traditional asylum of plebeians in an earlier age. The Senate ordered Rome’s consuls to go after Gaius Gracchus, which they did with a mob.
