His father, after a distinguished career as a soldier
in Spain and Sardinia, had attempted reforms at Rome. He had been censor,
and in this capacity he had ejected disreputable senators from the Curia;
he had degraded offending equites; he had rearranged and tried to purify
the Comitia. But his connections were aristocratic. His wife was the
daughter of the most illustrious of the Scipios. His own daughter was
married to the second most famous of them, Scipio Africanus the Younger.
He had been himself in antagonism with the tribunes, and had taken no part
at any time in popular agitations.
The father died when Tiberius was still a boy, and the two brothers grew
up under the care of their mother, a noble and gifted lady. They displayed
early remarkable talents. Tiberius, when old enough, went into the army,
and served under his brother-in-law in the last Carthaginian campaign. He
was first on the walls of the city in the final storm. Ten years later he
went to Spain as Quaestor, where he carried on his father's popularity,
and by taking the people's side in some questions fell into disagreement
with his brother-in-law. His political views had perhaps already inclined
to change. He was still of an age when indignation at oppression calls out
a practical desire to resist it. On his journey home from Spain he
witnessed scenes which confirmed his conviction and determined him to
throw all his energies into the popular cause.
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