Here, finding himself surrounded on every side, and no way left of escaping, he prevailed upon his slave to despatch him.

The slave immediately after killed himself, and fell down upon the body of his beloved master.

The pursuers coming up, cut off the head of Gracchus, and placed it for a while as a trophy on a spear.15.Soon after, one Septimule'ius carried it home, and taking out the brain artfully filled it with lead, in order to increase its weight, and then received of the consul seventeen pounds of gold as his recompence.
16.

Thus died Cai'us Gracchus.

He is usually impeached by historians, as guilty of sedition; but from what we see of his character, the disturbance of public tranquillity was rather owing to his opposers than to him; so that, instead of calling the tumults of that time the sedition of the Gracchi, we should rather call them the sedition of the senate against the Gracchi; since the efforts of the latter were made in vindication of a law to which the senate had assented; and the designs of the former were supported by an extraneous armed power from the country, that had never before meddled in the business of legislation, and whose introduction gave a most irrecoverable blow to the constitution.17.Whether the Gracchi were actuated by motives of ambition or of patriotism, in the promulgation of the law, it is impossible to determine; but from what appears, justice was on their side, and all injury on that of the senate.18.In fact, this body was now changed from that venerable assembly, which we have seen overthrowing Pyr'rhus and Hannibal, as much by their virtues as their arms.