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In the Forum, Opimius waited with his forces arrayed. Reinforced by some auxiliary slingers and archers recently returned from a campaign in the Balearic Islands, Opimius had at his command about three thousand men. When Flaccus’s son arrived Opimius told the young man that at a minimum the Gracchans had to lay down their arms, come to the Forum, and beg forgiveness. He also said that if the answer was anything less than total capitulation, the boy best not come back at all. Gaius, for one, appeared ready to back down, but Flaccus and his more radical supporters talked him out of it. Ignoring Opimius’s threat, they sent Flaccus’s son back to reject the terms. Good to his word, Opimius arrested the young man, tossed him in jail, and then led his small army toward the Aventine. Before leaving he offered a bounty of gold for the heads of Flaccus and Gaius—the amount of gold determined by the weight of the head.⁵³

When Opimius’s small legion ascended the Aventine, the archers lobbed arrows and the assembled Gracchans were forced to disperse. In the chaos they lost cohesion, and the strength they might have had in numbers never materialized. Just minutes into the fight, it was already every man for himself. Gaius led a party to the nearby Temple of Diana, while Flaccus went into hiding either in a vacant bath or the workshop of one of his clients. Opimius’s men knew Flaccus was somewhere in the area but no one would identify which house he was in. When they threatened to burn the whole block down, someone came forward and ratted Flaccus out. So it was that Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, senator, consul, tribune, and citizen of Rome, was apprehended and summarily executed on a random street on the Aventine Hill.⁵⁴

Gaius meanwhile could see that it was all falling apart. Rumors flew that Opimius was now offering immunity to anyone who laid down their arms. The same cocky crew that had spent the night drinking and boasting now tossed down their weapons and begged for mercy. Gaius’s few remaining supporters urged him to run for it. So Gaius ran for it. With a small handful of his most loyal friends, Gaius ran from the Aventine down to a bridge across the Tiber. But a company of Opimius’s men were in hot pursuit. As Gaius fled across the Tiber, his loyal friends posted themselves at the head of the bridge to fight off their pursuers and give Gaius time to get away. They were cut down to a man.⁵⁵

Gaius and a single slave made it as far as the Sacred Grove, an ancient patch of trees on the outskirts of Rome. It was there that Gaius decided that he would run no more and that his time was at hand. Handing a dagger to his slave, Gaius exposed his neck and ordered the slave to plunge the dagger into his throat. The slave obliged. Another Gracchus now lay dead in a pool of blood.⁵⁶

After his body was found, Gaius’s head was duly cut off and secured by a savvy former supporter. The erstwhile Gracchan carried the head home and “bored a hole in the neck, and drawing out the brain, poured in molten lead in its place.” Then he carefully “stuck the head of Gaius on a spear and brought it to Opimius, and when it was placed in a balance it weighed seventeen pounds and two thirds.” Opimius paid him in full.⁵⁷

AS WITH TIBERIUS, the day of sharp violence was followed by a more methodical purge. As many as 250 people died that same brutal morning as Gaius and Flaccus. But thousands more were identified and executed in the days to come as Opimius rid Rome of Gracchan partisans. Even the son of Flaccus—arrested for being the messenger of his father—was only given the courtesy of choosing his method of death. The Gracchan faction was broken.⁵⁸

Carbo, the last remaining Gracchan land commissioner, only survived the purge by switching sides. He likely secured a consulship for 120 by promising to defend Opimius’s conduct in front of the Assembly. But since no one likes a traitor, Carbo was himself arraigned on vague charges of treason the minute he left office in 119. The prosecution was led by a rising young noble named Lucius Licinius Crassus. Just twenty years old, Crassus dazzled the crowd with incisive wit and eloquence that shredded Carbo’s attempt to escape his past: “Although, Carbo, you defended Opimius, this audience will not on that account esteem you a good citizen; for it is clear that you dissembled and had other views.” For a decade Carbo had been a radical Gracchan—the last-minute defense of Opimius didn’t fool anyone. Loathed by all and his reputation destroyed, Carbo “rescued himself from the severity of the judges by a voluntary death” (as Cicero so eloquently put it). Gaius Papirius Carbo was the last victim of the Gracchan purge.⁵⁹