A PORTRAIT OF THE GRACCHI ACCORDING TO PLUTARCH

When we read the fascinating pages of Plutarch about the Gracchi Brothers, our instinct realizes that these two powerful men came from the plebeians and gained the tribunate because of being sustained by the people.Nothing of all this. The Gracchis were not even among the homines novi but had illustrious origins, since their mother Cornelia was the daughter of the patrician Scipio Africanus,general of the Punic wars. The Gracchi were well educated and their modernity is in that they were aware that Rome's land needed to be assigned also to the people with no income and to the veterans who had fought of almost 35 years for Rome and at the moment of the discharge had nothing to sustain themselves.Tiberius and Gaius had already realized that Rome's territory was in constant growth and that the majority of the people were unhappy with the distribution of the wealth in the city. In addition, the Will of Attalus III from Pergamom was a chance of seeing for the first time Rome having equal citizens with equal rights and equal wealth. Unfortunately the history of these two brave brothers took different paths and they were both killed by the angry senators who saw in them an attempt to become tyrants.Plutarch in his narration gives us a powerful portrait of the the two brothers and emphasizes the differences they had. Tiberius was nine year older than Gaius and was a more charismatic person. Tiberius used to be calmer and measure his words. His charisma brought him many times to balance the diverging instances of patrician with the problems of the plebeians and he was a man of moderation and negotiation. Gaius, however, symbolized an endless energy and will to do things for the poor people of Rome. In terms of activity, Gaius was more prolific that his older brother,because he even envisioned that necessity for the Romans to have more roads,task that normally pertained to the senatorial decisions.