the poorer citizens, and found work for them upon roads and
bridges; also he caused the state to clothe the soldiers, instead of
their doing it at their own expense. Another scheme which he first
proposed was to make the Italians of the countries now one with Roman
territory into citizens, with votes like the Romans themselves; but this
again angered the patricians, who saw they should be swamped by numbers
and lose their power.

He also wanted to found a colony of plebeians on the ruins of Carthage,
and when his tribuneship was over he went to Africa to see about it; but
when he came home the patricians had arranged an attack on him, and he
was insulted by the lictor of the consul Opimius. The patricians
collected on one side, the poorer sort around Caius on the Aventine
Hill; but the nobles were the strongest, the plebeians fled, and Caius
withdrew with one slave into a sacred grove, whence he hoped to reach
the Tiber; but the wood was surrounded, his retreat was cut off, and he
commanded the slave to kill him that he might not fall alive into the
hands of his enemies, after which the poor faithful fellow killed
himself, unable to bear the loss of his master. The weight of Caius'
head in gold had been promised by the Senate, and the man who found the
body was said to have taken out the brains and filled it up with lead
that his reward might be larger. Three thousand men were killed in this
riot, ten times as many as at Tiberius' death.

Opimius was so proud of having overthrown Caius, that he had a medal
struck with Hercules slaying the monsters. Cornelia, broken-hearted,
retired to a country-house; but in a few years the feeling turned,
great love was shown to the memory of the two brothers, statues were set
up in their honor, and when Cornelia herself died, her statue was
inscribed with the title she had coveted, "The mother of the Gracchi."

[Illustration: ROMAN CENTURION.]

Things were indeed growing worse and worse. The Romans were as brave as
ever in the field, and were sure in the end to conquer any nation they
came in contact with; but at home, the city was full of overgrown rich
men, with huge hosts of slaves, and of turbulent poor men, who only
cared for their citizenship for the sake of the corn they gained by it,
and the games exhibited by those who stood for a magistracy. Immense
sums were spent in hiring gladiators and bringing wild animals to be
baited for their amusement; and afterwards, when sent