Tiberius and Caius Gracchus
Plutarch
Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.
Cornelia took charge of the children and of the estate, and showed herself so discreet, so good a mother, and so magnanimous, that Tiberius was thought to have made no bad decision when he elected to die instead of such a woman. For when Ptolemy[*](Probably Ptolemy VI., surnamed Philometor, king of Egypt 181-146 B.C.) the king offered to share his crown with her and sought her hand in marriage, she refused him, and remained a widow.
In this state she lost most of her children, but three survived; one daughter, who married Scipio the Younger, and two sons, Tiberius and Caius, whose lives I now write. These sons Cornelia reared with such scrupulous care that although confessedly no other Romans were so well endowed by nature, they were thought to owe their virtues more to education than to nature.
Now, just as, in spite of the likeness between Castor and Pollux as they are represented in sculpture and painting, there is a certain difference of shape between the boxer and the runner, so in the case of these young Romans, along with their strong resemblance to one another in bravery and self-command, as well as in liberality, eloquence, and magnanimity, in their actions and political careers great unlikenesses blossomed out, as it were, and came to light. Therefore I think it not amiss to set these forth before going further.
In the first place, then, as regards cast of features and look and bearing, Tiberius was gentle and sedate, while Caius was high-strung and vehement, so that even when haranguing the people the one stood composedly in one spot, while the other was the first Roman to walk about upon the rostra and pull his toga off his shoulder as he spoke. So Cleon the Athenian is said to have been the first of the popular orators to strip away his mantle and smite his thigh.[*](See the Nicias, viii. 3. )