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While they were thus occupied the so-called Social War, in which many Italian
peoples were engaged, broke out. It began unexpectedly, grew to great
proportions rapidly, and extinguished the Roman seditions for a long time by
a new terror. When it was ended it gave rise to new seditions under more
powerful leaders, who did not work by introducing new laws, or by playing
the demagogue, but by employing whole armies against each other. I have
treated it in this history because it had its origin in a Roman sedition and
resulted in another one much worse.
It began in this way. Fulvius Flaccus in
his consulship
first openly excited among the
Italians the desire for Roman citizenship, so as to be partners in the
hegemony instead of subjects. When he introduced this idea and strenuously
persisted in it, the Senate, for that reason, sent him away to take command
in a war, in the course of which his consulship expired, but he obtained the
tribuneship after that and managed to have the younger Gracchus for a
colleague, with whose coöperation he brought forward other measures
in favor of the Italians. When they were both killed, as I have previously
related, the Italians were still more excited. They could not bear to be
considered subjects instead of equals, or to think that Flaccus and Gracchus
should suffer such calamities while working for their political advantage.
