Rome grew rapidly in the 2nd century BCE. It now extends from Spain to Greece, with interests in Africa, and shows no signs of stopping. In our country, this growth has destabilized the entire economy. Slaves from captured lands became farm laborers for the wealthy. Ordinary soldiers who owned land could no longer maintain it during long campaigns and found themselves either bankrupt or forced to sell it to the large slave-owning elites. Now these displaced landowners flocked to Rome in search of work, but many remained unemployed or underemployed. In the midst of this, two boys named Tiberius and Gaius were born into the Gracchus family. They were plebeians but of the most distinguished order. Their mother, Cornelia, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus. Their father was twice consul and had celebrated two triumphs for winning major campaigns. But their father died prematurely, so Cornelia raised her children alone and made sure they had a solid foundation in the liberal arts. As soon as he could, the eldest, Tiberius, stood for election as military tribune and joined the final campaign against Carthage. There he gained great honor and learned under Scipio Aemilianus, his half-brother who also happened to be the general-in-chief. On his return to Rome he presented himself as quaestor and was sent to serve in the Numantian wars in Spain. This time, the general he served under was struggling and suffering defeat after defeat. In the end he tried to flee, but was captured by the Numantians with the entire army. The Numantians insisted on discussing terms of surrender with Tiberius Gracchus, whose father had long earned their respect, and he successfully negotiated the release of 20,000 captured soldiers. In Rome, however, the elites viewed his treaty with contempt: they felt that his capitulation made Rome appear weak. The soldiers' families had a very different perspective: they celebrated Tiberius and even saved him from the Senate's punishment. He had learned that power could be found by appealing to the people.
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