Beyond the Contio: Political Communication in the Tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus

This chapter considers oratory in relationship to other networks of political communication. It focuses on the political program and legislation of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 bc. Tiberius was able to mobilize large groups of rural voters using local networks connected to city politics; and he could turn at short notice to the poor in the city because networks existed in the local neighbourhoods of Rome. While our extant ancient sources to Tiberius' tribunate are meagre and distorted by bias, the pattern of rapid and repeated political initiatives offers a suggestive case study of intense political communication that produced action and reaction amongst broad groups of Romans, both inside and outside the city. At the same time, the politics of 133 bc offer valuable insights into a different political and rhetorical landscape than that described by Cicero or Sallust around the middle of the first century bc.