Tiberius and Caius Gracchus

But when the consular elections were at hand and everybody was on the tip-toe of expectation, He was seen leading Caius Fannius down into the Campus Martius and joining in the canvass for him along with his friends. This turned the tide strongly in favour of Fannius. So Fannius was elected consul, and Caius tribune for the second time, though he was not a candidate and did not canvass for the office; but the people were eager to have it so.

However, he soon saw that the senate was hostile to him out and out, and that the good will of Fannius towards him had lost its edge, and therefore again began to attach the multitude to himself by other laws, proposing to send colonies to Tarentum and Capua, and inviting the Latins to a participation in the Roman franchise. But the senate, fearing that Gracchus would become altogether invincible, made a new and unusual attempt to divert the people from him; they vied with him, that is, in courting the favour of the people, and granted their wishes contrary to the best interests of the state.