When the people had assembled in the Comitium to decide upon the new law, it was unexpectedly opposed by the tribune Marcus Octavius Caecina, who had been gained over by the Patricians, and who pro nounced against it his veto.
At another meeting of the Comitium, the rich con tinued to put off the vote by carrying away the urns, and a most violent altercation having ensued, two ve nerable senators, Manlius and Fulvius, threw them selves at the feet of Gracchus, and prevailed upon him to refer the question to the conscript fathers.
This uproar, however, as might have been expected, was vain. The Senate resisted the law, and Gracchus, was again obliged to appeal to the people. The ob stinacy of his colleague, Octavius, rendered this ap peal unavailing; and Gracchus and the people had no other resource than to depose Octavius from the tri buneship; and when this was accomplished, the Li cinian law was passed in its original and unmodified condition, without any of those clauses by which Gracchus had hoped to render it palatable to the Pa tricians.
In order to carry this law into effect, Tiberius Gracchus, along with his brother Caius, and his fa ther-in-law, Appius Claudius, were appointed trium virs. They accordingly travelled through the Italian provinces, to inspect the state of property; but finding that their principal agent had been poisoned in their absence, they caused to be added to the law the new and more obnoxious clause, that the triumvirs should take cognizance of the lands that had been usurped from the republic.
About this time, Attains, king of Pergamus, had bequeathed to Rome his dominions and his treasures. The treasures had actually arrived in Rome, and Gracchus availed himself of his private influence to pass a law, in virtue of which they should be divided among the Roman citizens, who were not likely to re ceive any of the surplus lands taken from the Patri cians. This act of popularity gave him almost abso lute command of the voice of the people; and feeling the strength of his influence, he laid a plan of making his father-in-law consul, his brother tribune, and of being himself continued another year in the tribune ship. In order to secure the last of these objects, he gave out that the mob intended to assassinate him, and that his life could only be preserved by the pro tection which the sacred nature of that office afforded him.
This extraordinary request the people were willing to grant, though the senators resisted it with all their influence. The people watched the house of Gracchus by day and night, in order to save a life which they deemed so valuable. The senators, however, conspired against him, and had determined to get rid of so tur bulent an enemy. Mutius Sc2evola, the consul, re fused to arm his legions against the people, in conse quence of which Scipio Nasica exclaimed, "Since we are betrayed by our consul, let the friends of the re public follow us." Quitting the temple along with numbers of the senators, he was joined by the friends of the Patricians, armed with staves. Nasica at length came up with Gracchus, who, in his anxiety to escape, made a false step and fell down; but, in at tempting to rise, he received a blow upon his head, and his enemies taking advantage of the accident, rushed in and put an end to his life. About 300 of his friends fell in this ferment, and their bodies, along with that of the tribune, were thrown into the Tiber. The rest of his abettors were either slain or banished, and Caius Billies, one of his most staunch adherents, was enclosed in a cask, along with snakes and vipers, where he was allowed to perish. The Senate acquit ted Nasica and his assistants, and justified by a de cree the cruelties which had on this occasion been exercised.
There is no page of history more deeply instructive than that which records the life of Gracchus. That the public measures which he endeavoured with so much violence to carry, were, to a certain degree, wise and just, cannot be denied; that the motives from which he pursued them, and the objects at which he aimed were selfish and detestable, may with equal truth be affirmed. A good cause does not necessarily demand the support of the disinterested patriot. What is in itself excellent, may be rendered noxious by the motives and character of those who pursue it. However devious be the track of ambition, and how ever baneful its final object, its closest associations are often with wisdom and virtue, and its immediate purposes are often those of benevolence and public good.