Since the young Tiberius Gracchus assisted his famous father and namesakes funeral pile, he is destined for even greater fame. The final victory in Rome's 120 year long Punic wars against Carthage, its greatest ever Mediterranean rival, brings him immense glory and the rich unseen wealth, but almost nothing trickles down to the destitute, who keep flocking to the city's squalid quarters; the rich patricians yest removing the military threat of Carthage also removes the best control on them. He learns many veteran families lose everything, even their land, which is taken by the rich. Now he joins the army against a Spanish tribe, the Numantines, which manages to encircle the 20,000 legionnaires and refuses to negotiate with consul Mancinus, but takes the word of Gracchus, for the sake of his father who concluded an honorable peace with them; the troops return, their families rejoice but the senate blames the commanders for a disgraceful surrender and sends Mancinus back stark-naked in chains to denounce it. Tiberius uses his popularity to stand for the office of popular tribune, hoping to counter Nasicas extremist line in the senate. After a political alliance trough marriage with senator Pulcher's daughter Claudia he is elected one of the ten tribunes, and proposes in the legally legislative popular assembly a land reform, without the traditional seeking of senatorial consent, to return the land of destitute citizens. His former friend and colleague Octavius vetoes it, so no vote can be taken; now Tiberius systematically vetoes all court and other public proceedings- Octavius is deposed, the land reform is carried, making him an apparent competitor for absolute leadership. His senatorial enemies now pretend he craves a royal crown and keeps the lands meant for restitution to break his popularity and demand his execution after his tribunician term- Rome risks a civil war, he counts on the people to re-elect him (illegally); in stead a murdering mob kills him and his supporters, starting over a century of social and political instability, which will transform the republic into Caesar Augustus' empire.
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