[43]
And this was
his first step; this (alas for the miserable times and for our senseless
discords!) was the first step of Publius Clodius towards the conduct of the
affairs of the republic; this was the path by which he first began to
approach and mount up to his present boast of being a friend of the people.
For the unpopularity arising from the treaty at Numantia, at the making of which he had
been present as quaestor to Caius Mancinus the consul, and the severity
displayed by the senate in repudiating that treaty, were a constant source
of grief and fear to Tiberius Gracchus; and that circumstance alienated him,
a brave and illustrious man, from the wisdom of the senators. And Caius
Gracchus was excited by the death of his brother, by affection for him, by
indignation, and by the greatness of his own mind, to seek to exact
vengeance for the slaughter of a member of his family. We know that
Saturninus was led to confess himself a friend of the people out of
indignation, because at a time of great dearness of provisions, the senate
removed him while he was quaestor from the superintendence of the corn
market which belonged to him by virtue of his office, and appointed Marcus
Scaurus to manage that business. And it was the breeze of popularity which
carried Sulpicius further than he intended, after he had set out in a good
cause, and had resisted Caius Julius when seeking to obtain the consulship
contrary to the laws.
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