Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/302

Rh 2«8 GRACCHUS. arid, with his two legions of volones,he was ordered to carry on his operations in Apulia ; but the dic- tator, Q. Fabius Maximus, commanded him to go to Beneventum. At the very time he arrived there Hanno, with a large army, came from Brut- tium ; but a little too late, the place having been already occupied by Gracchus. When the latter hccird that Hanno had pitched his camp on the river Cator, and was ravaging and laying waste the country, he marched out, and took up his quar- ters at a short distance from the enemy. His volones, who had served in the hope of being re- stored to freedom, now began to murmur ; but as he had full power from the senate to act as he thought proper in this matter, he assembled the soldiers, and wisely proclaimed their freedom. This generous act created such delight among the men, that it was difficult to keep them from attacking the enemy at once. But the next morning at day- break he complied with their demand. Hanno accepted the battle. The contest was extremely severe, and lasted for several hours ; but the loss of the Carthaginians was so great, that Hanno, with his cavalry, was obliged to take to flight. After the battle, Gracchus treated a number of the volones who had behaved rather cowardly during the en- gagement, with that generous magnanimity which is so peculiar a feature in the femily of the Gracchi, and by which they rise far above their nation. He then returned with his army to Beneventum, where the citizens received them with the greatest enthusiasm, and celebrated the event with joy and festivities. Gracchus afterwards had a picture made of these joyous scenes, and dedicated it in the temple of Libertas on the Aventine, which had been built by his father. At the end of the year he was in his absence elected consul a second time for B.C. 213, with Q. Fabius Maximus. He now carried on the war in Lucania, fought several minor engagements, and took some of the less important towns of the country; but as it was not thought advisable to draw the consuls away from their armies, Gracchus was commanded to nominate a dictator to hold the comitia. He nominated C. Claudius Centho. In B. c. 212 he was ordered by the consuls to quit Lucania, and again take up his quarters at Beneventum. But before he broke up an ill omen announced to him his sad catastrophe. He was betrayed by Flavins, a Lu- canian, into the hands of the Carthaginian Mago. [Flavius, No. 2.] According to most accounts, he fell in the struggle with Mago, at Campi Ve- teres, in Lucania; and his body was sent to Han- nibal, who honoured it with a magnificent burial. Livy records several different traditions respecting his death and burial, but adds the remark that they do not deserve credit. (Liv. xxii. 57, xxiii. 19, 24, 25, 30, 32, 35—37, 48, xxiv. 10, 14—16, 43, XXV. 1, 3, 15 — 17; Appian, Annih. 35; Zonar. ix. 3, &c. ; Ores. iv. 16; Eutrop. iii. 4, who con- founds Tib. Sempronius Longus with our Tib. Serapronius Gracchus ; Cic. Tusc. i. 37 ; GeUius, ii. 2.) 3. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, probably a son of No. 2, was elected augur in b. c. 203, when he was yet very young, although it was at that time a very rare occurrence for a young man to be made a member of any of the colleges of priests. He died as augur in b. c. 174, during a plague. (Liv. xxix. 3S, xli. 26.) 4. Tib. Sempronius Gbacciius, was com- GRACCHJS. mander of the allies in the war against the Gauls, under the consul Marcellus, b. c. 1.96, and was one of the many illustrious persons that fell in battle against the Boians. (Liv. xxxiii. 36.) 5. P. Sempronius Gracchus, was tribune of the people in B. c. 189; and in conjunction Avith his colleague, C. Sempronius Rutilus, he brought an accusation against M Acilius Glabrio, the con- queror of Antiochus, charging him with having appropriated to himself a part of the money and booty taken from the king at Thermopylae. Cato also spoke against Glabrio on that occasion. (Liv. xxxvii. 57 ; Fest. s. v. penatores.) 6. Tib. Sempronius, P. f. Tib. n. Gracchus, the father of the two illustrious tribunes, Tib. and C. Gracchus, was born about B.C. 210. In B.C. 190 he accompanied the consul, L. Cornelius Scipio, into Greece, and was at that time by far the most distinguished among the young Romans in the camp for his boldness and bravery. Scipio sent him from Araphissa to Pella to sound Philip's dis- position towards the Romans, who had to pass through his dominions on their expedition against Antiochus ; and young Gracchus was received by the king with great courtesy. In B. c. 187 he was tribune of the people ; and although he was per- sonally hostile to P. Scipio Africanus, yet he de- fended him against the attacks of the other tribunes, and restored peace at Rome, for which he received the thanks of the aristocratic party. It appears that soon after this occurrence Gracchus was re- warded with the hand of Cornelia, the youngest daughter of P. Scipio Africanus, though, as Plutarch states, he may not have married her till after her father's death. An anecdote about her engagement to him clearly shows the high esteem which he enjoyed at Rome among persons of all parties. One day, it is said, when the senators were feasting in the Capitol, some of Scipio's friends requested him to give his daughter Cornelia in marriage to Grac- chus, which he readily promised to do. On his re- turning home, and telling his wife Aemilia that he had given his daughter to wife, Aemilia censured him for his rashness, saying that if he had chosen Gracchus she would not have objected; and on hear- ing that Gracchus was the man whom Scipio had selected, she rejoiced with her husband at the happy choice. Some writers relate the same anecdote of his son Tiberius and Claudia, the daughter of Ap- pius Claudius and Antistia. Shortly after Gracchus also defended L. Scipio in the disputes respecting the accounts of the money he had received from An- tiochus. Towards the end of the year M. Fulvius Nobilior, who claimed a triumph, was nobly sup- ported by Gracchus against the other tribunes. In B. c. 183 he was one of the triumvirs to conduct a Roman colony to Saturnia ; and shortly after this he must have been aedile, in which character he spent large sums upon the public games. In 181 he was made praetor, and received Hispania Cite- rior as his province, in which he succeeded Q. Fulvius Flaccus. [Flaccus, Fulvius, No. 5. J When his army was ready he marched to Spain ; and having made an unexpected attack upon Munda, he reduced the town to submission. After receiving hostages, and establishing a garrison there, he took several strongholds of the Celti- berians, ravaged the country, and in this manner approached the town of Certima, which was strongly fortified ; but as its inhabitants despaired of being able to resist him, they surrendered. They had to