the Numantines, being aware of
his movements, at once occupied the camp, fell upon his troops as
they fled, made havoc of the rear, and drove the whole army on to
difficult ground, from which it was impossible to escape.
Whereupon, in despair of forcing a way into safety, he sent envoys
with proposals for a truce and conditions of peace. The enemy
replied that they trusted no one except Tiberius and insisted that
he should be sent to them. This attitude was partly due to their
high opinion of Tiberius, whose reputation was familiar to all,
partly to the memory of his father, who after fighting against the
Spanish tribes and subduing many of them settled terms of peace
with the Numantines and persuaded the Roman people strictly to
confirm and keep them. Thus it came about that Tiberius was sent;
and after some give and take in negotiations he made a treaty, and
beyond question saved twenty thousand Roman citizens, besides
attendants and camp followers.

Plutarch, liii. 5.

As Tiberius travelled through Italy on his way to the wars in Spain he
looked at the condition of the people of his own country, thought of the
fortunes of his own soldiers, and was moved to indignation and distress
by what he saw. On the banners carried into battle, above the public
buildings, at the head of the laws and decrees issued by the Government,
there stood the letters 'S.P.Q.R.'--the Senate and People of Rome. The
senators, he knew, were rich and growing richer. The name of Rome was
carried far and wide. But what of the people? As Tiberius himself said,
'The wild beasts of Italy have their lairs and hiding places, but those
who fight and die for Italy wander homeless with their wives and
children and have nothing that they can call their own except the air
and sunlight.'

Tiberius saw and felt. But seeing and feeling were not enough. He
determined to act. The land question, the homelessness and poverty of
the people, and the army question were, as he saw it, really part of the
same. He resolved to deal with them together.

When he came back from his second term of service in Spain (134) he got
himself elected as one of the tribunes of the people. Almost at once he
introduced his Land Bill. The idea of this Bill was simple. All over
Italy the State of Rome owned great estates. But for years back the
estates had either been let to or occupied by the big landowners or
wealthy men of Rome. They were in poss