ughter ruled in Rome. The Tiber flowed thick with the corpses of the
friends of Gracchus, who were slain by the fierce patricians. The houses
of the murdered reformers were plundered by the mob, for whose good they
had lost their lives. For the time none dared speak the name of Gracchus
except in reprobation. Yet he and his brother had done yeoman service
for the ungrateful people of Rome.

Cornelia retired to Misenum, where she lived for many years. But she
lived not in grief for her sons, but in pride and triumph. They had died
the deaths of heroes and patriots, and she gloried in their fame,
declaring that they had found worthy graves in the temples of the gods.

So came the people to think, in after-years, and they set up in the
Forum a bronze statue to the great Roman matron, on which were inscribed
only these words: TO CORNELIA, THE MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI.

_JUGURTHA, THE PURCHASER OF ROME._

Masinissa, the valiant old king of Numidia, who had ravaged Carthage in
its declining days, left his kingdom to his three sons. On the death of
Micipsa, the last remaining of these, in 118 B.C., he, in turn, left the
kingdom to his two sons. They were still young, and Jugurtha, their
cousin, was appointed their guardian and the regent of the kingdom.

Shrewd, bold, ambitious, and unscrupulous, Jugurtha was the most
dangerous man in Numidia to whose care the young princes could have been
confided. Scipio read his character rightly, and said to him, "Trust to
your own good qualities, and power will come of itself. Seek it by base
arts, and you will lose all."

Some of the young nobles in Scipio's camp gave baser advice. "At Rome,"
they told him, "all things could be had for money." They advised him to
buy the support of Rome, and seize the crown of Numidia.

Jugurtha took this base advice, instead of the wise counsel of Scipio.
He was destined to pay dearly for his ambition and lack of faith and
honor. One of the young princes showed a high spirit, and Jugurtha had
him assassinated. The other fled to Rome and sought the support of the
senate. Jugurtha now, following the suggestions of his false friends,
sent gold and promises to Rome, purchased the support of venal senators,
and had voted to him the strongest half of the kingdom; Adherbal, the
young prince, being given the weaker half.

But the young man was not left in peace, even in this reduced
inheritance. Jugurtha sent more presents to Rome, and, confident of