Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 238 BC)
Encyclopedia
Tiberius Sempronius Tib.f. Gracchus (fl.
237 BC; d. by 215 BC), a Roman Republic
an consul
in the year 238 BC, was the first man from his branch (stirps) of the family (the gens Sempronia) to become consul; several other plebeian Sempronii had already reached the consulship and even the censorship. He is best known as the father of the similarly named consul of 215 and 213 BC
, and the grandfather of Tiberius Gracchus Major
, and the great-grandfather of the Brothers Gracchi (Tiberius
and Gaius Gracchus
).
Tiberius Gracchus had a relatively undistinguished consulship, with an indecisive campaign in Sardinia (Livy), after which he apparently vowed to dedicate a temple, not completed in his lifetime. That temple was completed and dedicated by his elder son, Tiberius, the consul of 215 BC and 213 BC.
His co-consul, the patrician consul, was Pub. Valerius Q.f. Falto.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
237 BC; d. by 215 BC), a Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
an consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in the year 238 BC, was the first man from his branch (stirps) of the family (the gens Sempronia) to become consul; several other plebeian Sempronii had already reached the consulship and even the censorship. He is best known as the father of the similarly named consul of 215 and 213 BC
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 and 213 BC)
Tiberius Sempronius Tib. f. Tib. n. Gracchus was a Roman Republican consul in the Second Punic War. He was son of Tiberius Sempronius Tib. f...
, and the grandfather of Tiberius Gracchus Major
Tiberius Gracchus Major
Tiberius Gracchus major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC...
, and the great-grandfather of the Brothers Gracchi (Tiberius
Tiberius Gracchus
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
and Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
).
Tiberius Gracchus had a relatively undistinguished consulship, with an indecisive campaign in Sardinia (Livy), after which he apparently vowed to dedicate a temple, not completed in his lifetime. That temple was completed and dedicated by his elder son, Tiberius, the consul of 215 BC and 213 BC.
His co-consul, the patrician consul, was Pub. Valerius Q.f. Falto.
Family and descendants
Tiberius Gracchus was the father of at least two sons by an unknown wife:- Tiberius Sempronius Tib. f. Tib. n. GracchusTiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 and 213 BC)Tiberius Sempronius Tib. f. Tib. n. Gracchus was a Roman Republican consul in the Second Punic War. He was son of Tiberius Sempronius Tib. f...
, consul 215 BC and 213 BC (killed in ambush 212 BC), who was curule aedile in 216 BC, then chosen Master of the HorseMaster of the HorseThe Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...
by the dictator Marcus Junius PeraMarcus Junius PeraMarcus Junius Pera was a Roman politician during the Second Punic War. He was consul in 230 BC and censor with Gaius Claudius Centho in 225 BC. He was appointed dictator in 216 BC, rei gerundae causa, for the purpose of repelling the Carthaginian forces under Hannibal from Italy. In order to raise...
, and then twice elected consul. He was an able consul, and known as an effective general of volunteer slave troops after the defeat at Cannae. His death in an ambush in 212 BC deprived him of further advancement; due to his popularity with the People and Senate alike, he would almost certainly have become Censor. The elder son was father of at least one son, and possibly two surviving sons.- Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus who was elected to the priesthood in 203 BC at a very young age, and who died in the plague of 174 BC.
- (probable) Tiberius Veturius Gracchus Sempronianus who replaced his dead kinsman as Augur, and whose name indicates that he was born a Sempronius and adopted into the patrician VeturiiVeturia (gens)The gens Veturia, anciently called Vetusia, was a patrician family at Rome, which also had plebeian branches. The patrician branch was of great antiquity; according to tradition, one of their number, Mamurius Veturius, lived in the time of Numa Pompilius, and made the sacred ancilia.The Veturii...
.
- Publius Sempronius Tib. f. Tib. n. Gracchus, of whom almost nothing is known. He had married and fathered a son Tiberius Gracchus MajorTiberius Gracchus MajorTiberius Gracchus major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC...
by 217 BC, and may have died during the Second Punic War.- Tiberius Gracchus MajorTiberius Gracchus MajorTiberius Gracchus major or Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC...
(ca 217 BC-154 BC), who married Scipio's younger daughterCornelia AfricanaCornelia Scipionis Africana was the second daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the hero of the Second Punic War, and Aemilia Paulla. She is remembered as the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman....
, and whose sons became famous as two reformist tribunes of the plebs who were undone by their conservative Opposition (some of them closely related).- SemproniaSemproniaSempronia is the nomen of the Roman gens Sempronia. Men of the gens were named Sempronius, and women Sempronia. The Sempronii were an important family throughout the history of the Republic...
, wife and widow of her mother's cousin Scipio Aemilianus; no issue. - Tiberius GracchusTiberius GracchusTiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
(ca. 168 BC168 BCYear 168 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macedonicus and Crassus...
- 133 BC, killed in a riot by conservative Senators), his three sons all died young; and - Gaius GracchusGaius GracchusGaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
(154 BC-121 BC121 BCYear 121 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opimius and Allobrogicus...
, committed suicide) who left a surviving daughter SemproniaSemproniaSempronia is the nomen of the Roman gens Sempronia. Men of the gens were named Sempronius, and women Sempronia. The Sempronii were an important family throughout the history of the Republic...
who became her mother's and paternal grandmother's heiress (her father's property having been confiscated by the Senate). Her daughter FulviaFulviaFulvia Flacca Bambula , commonly referred to as simply Fulvia, was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Through her marriage to three of the most promising Roman men of her generation, Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio and Mark Antony, she gained...
played an important part in Late Republican Roman politics by her three successive marriages to relatively impoverished tribunes of the plebs whose political career was made possible through her great wealth.
- Sempronia
- Tiberius Gracchus Major
Other possible descendants
- The tribune of the plebs Publius Sempronius Gracchus who attacked Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)Manius Acilius Glabrio was a consul of the Roman Republic in 191 BC. He came from an illustrious plebeian family whose members held magistracies throughout the Republic and into the Imperial era....
and others for corrupt practices and forced him to withdraw his candidacy for censor, may have been another grandson, but this is not certain. - A late first-century BC descendant may have been the Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus who was condemned to exile on an island for being Julia'sJulia the ElderJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
lover.