The Promised Land

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A Tragedy In Three Acts

By Michael Frazel CHARACTERS

The Gracchi

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS The oldest sibling and a dashing war hero, anywhere from 20s-40s

SEMPRONIA GRACCHUS A fierce sister and reluctant wife trapped in the world of men, 20-40s

CORNELIA AFRICANA GRACCHUS/ OLD WOMAN A stoic matriarch who would make her son king, 40s-80s

APPIS CLAUDIUS PUCLHER/ JUVENAL A brilliant politician and speaker of the Senate, 50s-80s

CLAUDIA PULCHRA GRACCHUS/ DIDO A dutiful wife and former Vestal virgin, 30s-50s

SCIPIO AEMLIANUS AFRICANUS/ HAROLD/ CYCLOPS A war hero who defeated Carthage but continues his siege for his in-law's love, 30s-50s

GAUIS GRACCHUS/ YOUNG BOY The youngest sibling who will one day grow up, 10s-20s

Their Opponents

PUBLIUS SCIPIO NASICA A brilliant politician, officiator of Sempronia's wedding, and Gracchi uncle, 50s-80s

MARCUS OCTAVIUS/ VIRGIL A stoic tribune and old friend of Tiberius, 20s-40s

LUCIUS OPIMIUS A sniveling henchman who loves order, 20s-30s

Their Friends

MARCUS FULVIOUS FLACCUS/ AENEAS A magnetic reformer who charms all who listen, 20s-40s Their Chorus

PILGRIM 1/ POLLUX/ STRABO/ POLLSTER 1 /HERALD A /MOURNER 1 Various citizens from the Roman people

PILGRIM 2/ CASTOR/ POLLSTER 2/ HERALD B/ MOURNER 2 Various citizens from the Roman people

PILGRIM 3/ POLLSTER 3/ HERALD C/ MOURNER 3 Various citizens from the Roman people

Note: With the suggested doubling the cast list is 14; Without it can be anywhere from 22-34

SETTING

The capital city of the Roman Republic, which, if you haven't already guessed, could be any capital city today. It is 133 BC and Rome is still the undisputed master of the world after defeating their greatest enemy Carthage in a series of world wars. The fierce Roman legions have recently been mobilized again, this time to crush a tiny band of terrorists overseas and secure access to more strategic resources. These freedom fighters are tough customers and have just defeated their Roman colonizers, sending them home in shame.

LANGUAGE

This play is in iambic pentameter and arranged in a modified Pindaric Odic structure. If that sounds scary, it shouldn't be, and the language is anything but archaic. Latin words and phrases are italicized. Backslashes indicate overlapping dialogue and names on the same line indicate simultaneous dialogue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank his family, the Joneses, and the Boss. ACT I

The dogs on main street howl Cause they understand it If I could take one moment into my hand Mister I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man:

-Bruce Springsteen 2.

SCENE I

It is night and we hear music from a religious procession to the temple of Concordia.

Three PILGRIMS enter solemnly.

PILGRIM 1 A libation! A libation to you! To the life-giving land we walk upon! A gift from the Gods who know everything!

PILGRIM 2 To the Plebian and Archaic Three! To Concordia! Our justice goddess! She who commands those who seek to change us!

PILGRIM 3 She who compels her pilgrims to pour To bless us this day! To win us our wars! To make sacrifices to Gods of yore!

PILGRIM 1 But those amongst us still seek to destroy With no love for Rome

PILGRIM 2 They reenact Troy!

PILGRIM 3 A terrible tale that gives us no joy.

PILGRIM 1 Gods we worship your ways and your glory! You talk through us! Bless us with your story! That fight between those young and those hoary!

PILGRIM 2 For godless days are sure death to us all The signs auger! See! This storm is no squall! 3.

PILGRIM 3 This path we are on leads only to brawl.

PILGRIM 1 But come now my friends, we are prone to waft! And come here we did to worship aloft. So quick let us move! Our candles grow soft!

PILGRIM 2 To Concordia’s home we bring great gifts! At her temple on Capitoline’s cliffs! Praying she heals our continental rifts!

PILGRIM 3 We pray to our goddess greater than Seth! Who marries opposites in her sweet breath! A new way you give us instead of-

Suddenly a herald appears.

HERALD Death! Death! A great awful loss! O gods! The death! How can I unsee what my eyes have seen? The stench! It strangles my nose with its death! Their screams! I still hear their screams with my ears! And the blood, O Gods, the blood runs so free! I can still taste it between chokes of wine.

PILGRIM 1 Idiot! That wine belonged to the Gods! We were making our way to the temples To give praise and libations for our sins!

PILGRIM 2 Identify yourself! Then seek mercy!

PILGRIM 3 Then tell us true of your terrible woes.

HERALD Penance, good folk, if only a snack... I have journeyed here from greater Hispaine To report on war, and of his pain- Ha! I came up with that one just now. 4.

PILGRIM 1 The point?

HERALD Never ask a herald about his point! We get paid by the word and the meter, Never mind if the message itself sucks.

PILGRIM 2 You, without a doubt, are the worst herald-

HAROLD The gods must work through you, for that’s my name! They’ve opened my head box and peered inside!

PILGRIM 3 You say your name is Harold the herald?

HAROLD Harold Hipparchus Herodes Gracchus Herald, athlete, and, professional-

PILGRIM 1 O gods!

PILGRIM 2 I could smell it-

PILGRIM 3 No please!

HAROLD Actor! At your services! No job is too tough When the going, get gone, I am enough! That one I came up with that one before, you know.

PILGRIM 1 He holds the name Gracchus? Comes from far Spain?

PILGRIM 2 What would be lost to listen? Or what gained?

PILGRIM 3 I do not like him much. Actors: so vain! 5.

PILGRIM 1 We set out this night to worship our Gods, Instead we meet him, even if a fraud! He speaks of our champion! What are the odds?

PILGRIM 2 Any news of the Gracchi, golden clan, Is news that we seek, is news of our man! The one who will save Rome with his plan!

PILGRIM 3 Cool it! This augur has not come to pass. They do not yet know his weapon is class Let us listen, abide, hear news from this-

PILGRIM 1 You there, wise poet, we seek your breath song-

PILGRIM 2 And apologize if we did you wrong.

PILGRIM 3 Go ahead. Speak on. But don’t speak too long.

HAROLD My fans, I thank you for my chance to speak. And tell you the story of Rome in Spain: How empire’s reach curled back in a fist How our war overseas bloodied our eyes Blackened our mouths and ruptured our feet, er- The point being how I witnessed defeat! This tragic tale full of terrible woe! The fall of Troy has nothing on this one Though that story has a few more maidens, And you know, romance and violence sells best There was actually one girl, of the night-

PILGRIM 1 Harold, dear poet, what news of Gracchus?

HAROLD He’s always been a hit with the ladies-

PILGRIM 2 No, fool, tell us of his trial overseas. 6.

HAROLD He hasn’t been put on trial that I know of?

PILGRIM 3 You were telling us of events in Spain.

HAROLD Well I certainly was trying to! Hmph. If your friends would only let me finish!

PILGRIM 1 We would if you told us of what we seek!

PILGRIM 2 Instead of bouncing back and forth and fro!

HAROLD Okay! So everybody’s a critic! So I repeat myself! You try my job! Always running and remembering things! But Tiberius does not send me here To complain, chat with strange pilgrims who sulk. I go to his mother to give her joy! What I meant to say was bring her good news. Do any of you know which way to go? He’s at the Senate, held up with some things. Where sits Cornelia wisest of moms? I come to tell her her son is alive, He saved thousands and made his father proud.

PILGRIM 1 But, humble actor, why not tell us first?

PILGRIM 2 Practice your great speech, before it is time!

PILGRIM 3 Then we can show you the way to his house!

HAROLD My friends, you do me great honor. To give So free, your wisdom and wine, shows me true You do know Tiberius and his heart. 7.

And O, how that heart served him abroad! Saved him from sinning, from Spanish broads- ha! But this story comes after he comes- well- Comes to Numantia, off to Rome’s frontier Planting fresh death while farmers sow new life. Arriving in Spring he turned us around, Those terrorists fighting, burning the world No more than bandits with their strange head wear, ‘Till our man of the Tiber rose to fight! And with the full might of our fierce legions Crashed upon their pitiful oppidum That village of mud by cruel Durius A river possessed by a demon cruel Who swallowed with hatred so many sons. For the barbarian hordes did not give in Instead they butchered and slaughtered our kin The river turned blood with death on the wind! So our legions fled under cover of night. Only under the blood red break of dawn Did they find themselves surrounded by death! “Send forth a Gracchi, if Gracchus there be! His father brought justice, peace to this land! We trust only him if he shows his hand!” Great Gracchus stepped forward to speak for Rome. He wrestled safe passage from certain death And though we retreated under fierce rain His words fired us and kept our hearts a-light! “No more Italian blood will be shed! Enough has been spilled to make their crops strong! For I look upon you and I must smile Though we have lost a terrible battle I see before me a great fighting force Who would defeat Carthage if given the chance! The world now has more Roman legions to fear!” Or something like that. He was magnetic. And so from abroad comes Tiberius No triumph for him but a lesson learned: “Rome is an ideal fought for by the sword!” Actually I’m not sure what to say there, What the moral of the story is, see. “And so he was taught: the Gods use failure To make out of mountains valleys that thrive!” 8.

Or maybe “Always keep in touch with mom!” Or maybe “The value of galoshes”?

PILGRIM 3 Good gods. Is he really, really that thick?

PILGRIM 2 Actors are known for their hides not their wit

PILGRIM 1 Let us be rid of him quicker then quick.

PILGRIM 3 O Harold the herald! Actor of note! Your story is tragic but gives us great hope You earn yourself leeway to run and tope.

PILGRIM 2 What that means, dear friend, is Cornelia’s house Is ahead on the left, the one sans a spouse Searching for a man who likes to get soused.

PILGRIM 1 My friends let their tongues fly only in jest Harold, we thank you, go forth on your quest Wise Cornelia welcomes you as a guest.

HAROLD My loves, I thank you, to Gracchus I go Thank you for giving me this chance to grow! Now I am ready to give them a show!

Harold leaves.

PILGRIM 1 An idiot sure, but one with a heart. And he brought us tidings of our fair hero On who’s face even now I long to look!

PILGRIM 2 It brings me great joy to know he brings joy On the house on that hill of the Gracchi The ones who will someday try to save Rome. 9.

PILGRIM 3 We who would worship Concordia here Must go forth and worship now without fear! Our hero returns home bringing us cheer!

PILGRIM 1 Tiberius Gracchus one who would be A king if that meant the people were free! A family constituted with threes.

PILGRIM 2 A name who’s blood will revive the land! The house of the Gracchi will make a stand!

PILGRIM 3 Making into glass what was once Time’s sand.

A mournful wail is heard.

PILGRIM 1 Wait. Did you all hear that terrible cry?

PILGRIM 2 It sounded as if it were everywhere!

PILGRIM 3 No mortal man could utter such laments!

The cry is heard again.

PILGRIM 1 One would swear such pain only Priam His tears failing to close Hector’s wounds.

PILGRIM 3 Or Dido at the betrayal of her city!

PILGRIM 2 Or Aeneas her lover when he lost Wise Anchises on the Elysian fields, His father taken before his right time. 10.

PILGRIM 1 A child with no father is raised by all! Will cry bitter tears while watching Rome fall! Will become our hero for those of us small!

PILGRIM 2 The three from that house will face greater strife! Then did their own mother, Rome’s greatest wife! Will they sacrifice their greatest gift: life?

PILGRIM 3 For seeking out change has consequences! The greater the cost to heal great offenses! Now he appears, our first part commences!

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS enters, dazed.

TIBERIUS Good pilgrims, hark, if pilgrims I see here. I do love Rome though it may not love me. I must get to my mother’s house, up there.

PILGRIM 1 Tiberius Gracchus! An honor, sir.

PILGRIM 2 We praise the Gods that our paths finally meet!

PILGRIM 3 We hunger to hear your voice speak its truth.

TIBERIUS Strange people, how kind. I must disappoint. I come from the Senate and before that From foreign Numantia where Rome was taught Though bested Carthage we have much to learn. Our soldiers are strong but our will is weak Our riches have made us poorer still.

PILGRIM 1 We have heard already of your gallant loss

PILGRIM 2 And from an odd and curious herald- 11.

PILGRIM 3 But we have not heard news from the Senate.

TIBERIUS Harold. A puppy, as loyal and kind. Many a time has he lightened dark clouds With his jokes and stories and his failure To ever seem to do anything right. He speaks from his heart, and what heart it may be, So unlike so many senators now. Out of Numantia I led home my troops Tired and stinking we knew no triumph Awaited our pitiful heavy heads But heads still attached to their Roman trunks. I fear our Senate would rather see them Pruned like the weeds in their massive gardens. My uncle Nasica hauled me before That rabble of wraiths who suckled on greed, Attacked my courage and my resolve Their insults flew like barbarian spears Huffing on power just as parasites Gleefully turn the living to the dead. And though they acquitted the cracks were clear Rome seems no longer to serve our ideals It was a sad day in freedom’s cradle.

PILGRIM 1 Our structure is rotten and no more guides

PILGRIM 2 Our elected offices or their work!

PILGRIM 3 Our country needs a cure for this cancer!

TIBERIUS Strange friends, I need a cure for my weary Forgive me, please, if my passions took over I must return home and give my bones rest.

PILGRIM 1 Great Gracchus go! Any fault is with us!

PILGRIM 2 Seeking the wisdom of one who is weak! 12.

PILGRIM 3 Thank you for your service.

TIBERIUS Goodbye, strange friends.

Tiberius leaves.

PILGRIM 1 So it is set, our hero will go now

PILGRIM 2 He’s seen the future, floating by Rome’s bow

PILGRIM 3 The where and who and what are set, but how?

PILGRIM 1 So into the halls of that hallowed home

PILGRIM 2 The seeds of plan wait in his skull loam

PILGRIM 3 Wait for a till to help him to save Rome!

PILGRIM 1 Watch what he does for the sake of our gods!

PILGRIM 2 Though kind and creative he still has his flaws!

PILGRIM 3 Watch this tale of change! Watch closely! Be awed! 13.

SCENE 2

We are in the elegant front room of the Gracchi.

Tiberius enters.

TIBERIUS Anyone home? Unless this is a prank? Mother? Sempronia? Do I ring a bell? The house that I dream of now seems so small.

SEMPRONIA GRACCHUS and GAUIS GRACCHUS come running in.

SEMPRONIA Brother! O, Brother! Tiberius lives! Hands off Gauis! You will kill him yet!

GAUIS Sorry my lady he deserves some ruffle.

TIBERIUS My brother. Look here. You have grown so much! Soon we will not be able to wrestle! Unless I cut off your arms and your legs!

The boys roughhouse each other.

SEMPRONIA Boys! Boys! The jewels of Rome fight like pups.

TIBERIUS My lady, forgive us, we oft forget The women of Rome fight more than us men!

They all wrestle and collapse.

TIBERIUS My blood, I missed you. It feels right to be here, As if us three were together as one. But where is mother, the glory of Rome? 14.

SEMPRONIA Where else? Crowded she felt, working the crowd.

GAUIS You know mother, she must tell all who ask:

ALL “My most precious jewels are these/you, my two boys”

SEMPRONIA It is such a shame your insides are wood.

GAUIS Sempronia dares insult mother’s word? She’s been mighty moody since her big day.

TIBERIUS Enough, younger brother. Lay off our queen. May I see the band given to you? It sparkles your eyes, Sempronia, true. I grieve that my duties kept me away But know that you and Aemilianus Had a ceremony to make dad proud.

GAUIS Not to mention a party for half of Rome!

SEMPRONIA A most joyous occasion for our clan.

TIBERIUS Yet I detect something more to be said?

SEMPRONIA Then let us speak of your fair wife Claudia! Who as we speak is helping our mother A fierce and loyal wife have you lucked on.

TIBERIUS One who oft brings me great solace and joy Even though arranged our union began Marriage is not a sentence but a skill. 15.

Suddenly Harold, CORNELIA AFRICANA GRACCHUS and CLAUDIA PULCHRA GRACCHUS enter.

CORNELIA Where is he? Where is my son? Where is he? You! I know not more what I wish to do: Kiss your feet or kick you with mine!

TIBERIUS Hi mom.

HAROLD May I present Rome’s honorable matron:

CORNELIA And you! You are by far the worst herald-

TIBERIUS Thank you for your service Harold. Be gone.

Harold leaves.

CORNELIA When you went off to Carthage I got word Thanks to Aemilianus, you were safe. Under his command, you were not dead. Each week, I knew he was not food for wolves! And then, in Numantia, my son would lead! Would show the world his true fate as a jewel! But what does he do on his path to glory? Forget to write his mother, once, at all! And then when he returns he has the nerve To send a herald to fill Mother in, A herald who must be the worst in Rome!

TIBERIUS I am sorry Mom, but he means so well. I had to take pity on him, you see His father and ours were friends long ago. 16.

CORNELIA Do not mom me, it ruins my armor! And my reminds me of my first little boy. And gods how you look so much like your father! He would have been so proud of your actions The way you stepped forward and saved your men A true son of his, as well as of Rome.

TIBERIUS And hopefully too, a good husband stands In front of his wife who forgives his sins. Hey kid.

CLAUDIA Hey old man. My heart beats fastest

TIBERIUS When fastened us two. You look radiant.

CLAUDIA And that stupid grin would melt even stone. Tell me, how did your son get so charming?

TIBERIUS But of course my strengths came from my mother!

SEMPRONIA As well as his oleaginous streak!

CORNELIA You overstep, prosecuting your boast.

TIBERIUS My heart is alight to see my blood here But more to find out that not much has changed Though I stand before different myself.

CORNELIA We know of Numantia. Let us no more Speak of such things for our hero is home And needs no conditions to know our love. 17.

TIBERIUS The unending font of a mother’s love Cannot wash away every blemish earned

SEMPRONIA But it certainly can do a deep clean.

Harold enters.

HAROLD I present your lawful brother! Or, Wait-

SEMPRONIA Speak of blemishes and they will appear.

CORNELIA Do you have nothing better to do pest?

HAROLD Publius Cornelius Scipio-

TIBERIUS Thank you Harold. We know our own brother.

SEMPRONIA The one to whom the law says we relate.

SCIPIO AEMILIANUS enters.

AEMILIANUS The Gracchi! Finally reunited. And gathered here to bid me goodbye. I go now to Spain as once off to Carthage.

TIBERIUS Aemilianus, my brother, welcome.

AEMILIANUS It is I who should be welcoming you! My men speak of you with breathy wonder And some even dare to forget their place! Praising defeat over Carthage’s killer. But again I will show them why my name Belongs to that line of immortal men! I have been elected consul again! And ask fair Cornelia to blessed 18.

With the services of young Gauis here In order to further cement our fates And train at least one brother to succeed.

SEMPRONIA You are too rash, my husband and hero.

CORNELIA And you are too bold, my daughter and love. We bless your fortune, Aemilianus. We offer my son for you to well-train. Please watch over him and make him a man As you once did our Tiberius.

AEMILIANUS Blessed Cornelia, mother of Rome Your example shine for all Romans to see. See you at home, and you boy, see you soon.

TIBERIUS Good luck in a country that bested me.

Aemilianus leaves.

SEMPRONIA That man-

CORNELIA I wonder on mos maiorum. One man has never served two consulships.

TIBERIUS And before him, no one ever as young Aemilianus seems outside the norm But nothing these days is like what it was.

CORNELIA Yes. He is more successful then any. Perhaps a lesson to each of my sons And maybe why I am not yet known As the mother of the Gracchi, but still As the daughter of the great Scipio Or as the mother-in-law of that fool.

APPIUS CLAUDIUS PULCHER enters. 19.

CORNELIA Claudius here? With no herald in sight?

CLAUDIUS I fear that he knew no words could he craft That would introduce slimy senators.

TIBERIUS It feels good to embrace you father-in-law.

CLAUDIUS And to see you smiling after your trial That despicable farce was lower than mud Fair Cornelia, your son, Claudia Your innocent husband, and children, Your honor-blessed brother, was a victim Of the basest mock of Roman ideals, Orchestrated by bats in the Senate Who flout our customs if it makes them rich! And knowing no limit to their base schemes Did then elect Aemilianus again To ship off to Spain and protect their mines!

CORNELIA We were just discussing this latest turn.

CLAUDIUS Then let me in secret tell you some more Of how we can seize control of this mess To win back your name and win back a Rome That your father, your grandfather, even Our great Romulus himself would adore! Your son must be weary. Let us go feast! And discuss the way our jewel may yet shine! Let us talk of the plebian tribune. 20.

SCENE 3

A square off the forum a few days later.

An OLD WOMAN pushes a cart.

OLD WOMAN Trinkets! Bobbins! Good luck in a jar! Hm. Hannibal’s penis! The fourth Sibyl book! Blast it to hell. Tiberius’ toe! All my customers are at the Forum. Voting to elect that young Gracchi As tribune! A tribune I say! Strange times. A man like him, should be climbing the ladder. You see, there’s always been but one way to rise: You spend ten years in the army to start Then you serve as quaestor, a clerk. Then you’re a junior magistrate, a judge, And as aedile you oversee public games Or public works, cause that’s less important. And if nothing goes wrong while in office You become a praetor, almost there! Because then, only then, after that climb You reach the top of cursus honorum. You become a consul, glory of Rome! ‘Course once they tripped over themselves to waive Those requirements for that Carthage killer That baboon, our Aemilianus fair. Then I suppose that the ladder was burned All wood was needed for the kiln of war That forge that fires men into sculpture. But you did not come to hear things like that. Maybe you wanted to buy something, more? You watch it, he charms more then Tiberius.

A crowd enters triumphantly with Tiberius and Claudius.

CLAUDIUS Did I not promise? Did I lead you wrong? Good people of Rome, I present to you: Tiberius Gracchus: your new tribune! 21.

TIBERIUS Thank you Claudius. My people, thank you. I know it seems strange that I now serve you But I promise to protect you and Rome.

Another crowd enters with PUBLIUS SCIPIO NASICA and MARCUS OCTAVIUS.

OCTAVIUS I present the Pontifex Maximus!

NASICA Congratulations my nephew, it seems You are the first tribune of the Gracchi. But that is expected as you also Were the first to ever retreat and flee.

CLAUDIUS Do you not have somewhere else to slither?

NASICA I see you already make poor choices The Claudii are a despicable race, New money posers unlike your mother.

TIBERIUS I am glad to see you, Octavius.

OCTAVIUS And I, you, my old friend, Tiberius.

NASICA Come Octavius, let us not linger This stench does much to affront my nose.

OLD WOMAN Wow. Good to see our elected officials Are still reenacting their playground days.

CLAUDIUS He is the worst kind of senate-bred scup. 22.

TIBERIUS He is my uncle, not to mention that He is our high priest with many close friends.

CLAUDIUS And many far acres under his name Or hid behind freedmen, laundered to look As if he was a poor public servant.

TIBERIUS I fear that your plan of taking his land May serve for you as simple sweet revenge.

CLAUDIUS I will not lie. I hate that old viper. But only because he undermines Rome Public land belongs to the people, friend.

TIBERIUS Why don’t we ask the people what they want? If you could do anything to change Rome Make it more just, more equal, more, better?

OLD WOMAN I’d like to see some more holidays, sure. Help me with my business, that’s for certain.

CLAUDIUS I fear you’d have better luck with a broom. The first rule to learn about politics Is that listening to constituents And translating what they actually want Is a skill only augurs and fools learn. Better instead to put forth what you want And convince them how it was their idea.

TIBERIUS Perhaps in the Senate that is the way But I did swear an oath to the people And true, I will try and listen to them. 23.

OLD WOMAN You see sir, what I meant when I said that Was people need some time to themselves, see With the economy booming or not We all still got lots of debt to pay off And I should actually be retired But here I am because my savings: poof! See, all of my children died in your wars And I have no land to bury them on. Just their ashes that I carry around.

CLAUDIUS Good lady, sorrow I wish that I could Law away with the whisk of my pen.

OLD WOMAN I apologize. There’s something in my eye. It’s just this whole world is too monstrous Sometimes it seems even hoping for change Is a waste of resources better spent. You see, that’s why I want more holidays For one day a year we don’t have to be Cogs in some great economic machine! We’d get to be mothers to our children Or brothers, or dorky fathers again. Be carers ‘stead of consumers for once. Banish efficiency for the ghoul it is Spend some time on our little peaceful slice Of heaven where we can simply exist.

CLAUDIUS Do you see! What she wants is what I said! She wants a future where she can alone Let her eyes wander over her garden, hers! Land is what this old woman seeks, land!

OLD WOMAN What?

CLAUDIUS She said she needed somewhere to spread The ashes of her family on soft soil As well as a day to honor the dead, 24.

And something else I think. But still, the point! She confirms that Rome must redistribute land!

TIBERIUS Do you believe a bill to create A commission to give out public land Would give what you want and better Rome?

OLD WOMAN Sure.

CLAUDIUS Now off to my house! We have much to plan!

TIBERIUS Thank you good woman, you made him happy I will fight to make your dream soon come true.

OLD WOMAN Good Gracchus, wait! I’d like to give you a gift. Your words and ideas go over my head But I see your heart beats in step with Rome’s. Now where the hell did I put this damn thing? Yes. I give to you a piece of the tree That Cybele gave to Aeneas himself As burning Troy behind him like a torch Showed the world his embarrassment, but too From the forge of failure great men are made. And Great Mother Cybele saw all of this She offered to him her own sacred tree And gave the Trojans wood for their great boats So that winds of change would blow them to Rome. Take it, our hero, Great Gracchus, you fool Build Rome a new boat in order to sail On our sea of ideals that will not sink. Whether or not the prophecy is a lie What matters most is that you even try.

TIBERIUS My lady wait! I am confused!

OLD WOMAN Goodbye!

The Old Woman leaves. 25.

TIBERIUS She speaks in riddles, puzzles to be solved But after I clean Rome’s most infected cut! Yet still something about that old woman... Blast it away my mind needs to focus! Just as if I faced a battle against The demon elephants of Hannibal. Gods, but that makes me think of my brother And his fate with my brother-in-law, there, Overseas in that desert of death, where The land itself seems to rise up and choke The life-giving light from the constant sun Transforming it to a mocking spotlight That shows to the world man’s most vile depths And proves why we think that Hell is so hot! War, war, that terrible curse. The mass Production of hate lingers on eternal Passes from father to son ever more Until comes the day, that day is today! When violence takes over every cell And without knowing it our cathedrals Are built with the bones of those crushed beneath. I know I have worshipped at that altar And made sacrifices to our true God: Violence, violence, O so much suffering! And Claudius thinks that he can erase History. Me? I would erase my name If it meant that my father could guide me!

Tiberius leaves. 26.

SCENE 4

The house of Claudius later that night. A group of reformers including Tiberius and MARCUS FULVIOUS FLACCUS.

CLAUDIUS Yes, yes, order, order! Order, my friends. We gather today as I think you all know Because of an injustice long ignored That all of us here can solve this evening! The unequal distribution of wealth. Now do not fret, this is not a sermon, I would leave that to our esteemed high priest! I do not speak about gains acquired Through skill and hard work and that sort of thing.

FLACCUS Though of course the system is rigged anyway, With private property being a myth A fiction only enforced by violence.

CLAUDIUS Thank you, as always, our friendly firebrand I hope, by now, you’ve all had the pleasure Of meeting Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. Or our other, most recent addition Tiberius Sempronious Gracchus, A tribune who dares fraternize with us! And if you don’t know the people around Introduce yourself now, say something, rash.

The audience should be induced to introduce themselves to each other.

Alright, alright. For conspirators be Amongst us, right now. Those who dare to dream That for Rome there may be another way A re-arrangement of our government! A chance to recapture what made us great That for a flicker, a moment, we lived As equals together in utopia. 27.

But then came the Fall as it always does And cold winds of hate, greed, and cruelty did blow That dimmed the eternal fire of justice, But blow out our torch, these people did not! For we know truly what we used to be And the way to get back what we were once! It is not through hatred, through walls or fear It is through young children, like those right here. Through teaching them kindness and how to love, And how to be wary of any ideas That come from a place of hate or anger. So my good friends let us put to the test The plan we are gathered here to debate.

Claudius should find a young kid in the audience, or speak to the actor playing Gauis.

Hello young master, what is your name?

Depending on what their name is:

[Well that’s iambic! Already great start!] or [A little louder to please your fan base!] Young radical are you enjoying yourself?

Hopefully the punk says yes.

Here is an orange that I ask you to eat. It is yours alone, you don’t have to share, Unless my friend you look around to see The many happy but hungry faces Looking to you for a slice of your orange. Haven’t your teachers told you that sharing Makes you and everyone happier than If you were to eat your orange by yourself?

Again, hopefully the kid shares.

Wonderful saint you inspire us all! And now everyone gets to enjoy one!

Claudius and helpers give out oranges to the audience. 28.

See the myth of limited resources! It is just that! A myth with a motive! There is plenty to share for us plenty! And why does it seem that once we leave school Sharing becomes something that is wicked? And only happens in other places Or only at one or two holidays? No my friends, to redistribute your wealth Is something so simple a child can do. As we all enjoy our oranges so we, So everyone should enjoy a freedom, The freedom of your own slice of heaven The freedom to exert dominium Over dirt under which we all will soon lie! To start building a future from the ground To get the chance to plant your own orange tree! To feed your family with honest hard work! Friends, I will now go over specifics On how we plan to redistribute land.

Tiberius finds himself alone with Flaccus.

FLACCUS Quite a speaker your father-in-law is Our master of oratorial arts.

TIBERIUS And Flaccus, not flaccid, straight to the point.

FLACCUS He’s wrong you know, about so many things. We did not begin in utopia Nor will our story ever end in one.

TIBERIUS I always found Plato a bit boring. For blind masons build temples brick by brick Without architects.

FLACCUS And oft without priests. 29.

SCENE 5

It is a stormy night a few days later. LUCIUS OPIMIUS and Marcus Octavius are arguing on the porch of the Regia, the high priest’s house.

LUCIUS But, my friend, you must see what I have said! It is why our Senate protects our Rome And why we need you, I need you tonight.

OCTAVIUS I always make time for the Pontifex Even, indeed, when he calls in the rain. Strange portents these be, a loud storm like this.

LUCIUS Superstitions have no place in a man! Do not cry ‘Lion!’ and tell me of signs It is melodramatic and for fools.

OCTAVIUS So perhaps tell me how foolish it is That the spears of Mars in that very room Were said to shake when Tiberius ran For tribune instead of rightful consul! Or further when my former brother claims That the Senate is too corrupt to hear Some fantasy bill that gives out free land!

LUCIUS Which is exactly why Nasica calls Enlisting you in our attempts to stop This foe who seeks to change our Roman ways. Gods, men who know no respect for order Or law or loyalty or Jove himself! Chaos cannot better the status quo.

Nasica appears. 30.

NASICA To see that you answered on such a night Betrays your heart and loyalty to Rome. Octavius, my boy, you have wisdom. Sight that I wish your fellow tribune had For what he seeks to do goes against all, Everything that our country was built on! Even the Gods cry from their clouded thrones Because of what Tiberius would do. But what do you think Octavius, son?

OCTAVIUS My father, I know not what I should do. Lucius here has shared with me his passions And though I respect him and his beliefs I cannot reject my oldest friend’s sight. Tiberius has seen our coming trial That men we need to fill our army’s ranks And soldiers need to own a piece of land. So when these fighters no longer have farms Our legions will be scarecrows to our foes.

NASICA But look at Aemlianus’ strength. He goes to vanquish enemies abroad This time with soldiers raised solely by him.

OCTAVIUS But I must say that future scares me more. Just as meter in poems helps them sing, So too do customs make Rome the strongest. When the rich start to believe they’re special, That normal laws do not apply to them, I fear a plague of privatization.

LUCIUS Why then did you come here honored tribune?

NASICA Thank you Lucius. Be safe in this weather.

Lucius leaves.

Forgive him. The problem with attack dogs They oft know not when they should stave their bite. 31.

Why did you come here on this night my friend? ‘Twas not for want of a leisurely stroll.

OCTAVIUS I do not know how I found myself here. Everything these days comes at me so fast Or I spend all my day just using glue To repair canyons that split right after! I know in my heart that my friend is right. Because they elected us to serve them Their hope puts enormous pressure on us And rare is the diamond that office forms.

NASICA Yes. This pressure certainly melts away The excess until just the core is left, And rare is the man who deep down inside Resembles angel more than small reptile.

OCTAVIUS But Tiberius I know inside thinks Of others first, has exorcized his dark, Or else it never really grew at all. And yet I know what he’s doing is wrong! To not present this bill to the Senate Gives simpler men a window to a world Where strong men, rich men, run society Where our nation’s ideals are a bad joke And the punchline always ends with a sword. I fear for Rome if Tiberius wins, I fear for Rome if Tiberius stops! I come tonight because I choke on fear!

NASICA My friend, as always, your heart leads you true. And as your priest I fear I cannot help For you see yourself truer than a sign Given by Ope herself to our city. Perhaps though I can offer some advice That reconciles both sides of your heart. You can still help the people that you serve While also slowing Tiberius down. Come inside. Let us pray and talk some more. 32.

SCENE 6

The forum the next morning.

CASTOR Tickets! Tickets! Tickets to see the speech! You there! Young sir! How abouts some tickets!

POLLUX It is free to hear the tribunes talk, sir.

CASTOR What do you think it costs you to shut up? Tickets! Tickets! Democracy ain’t free! Come see the fight of the century!

AENEAS He ain’t no sentry! He fought at Carthage!

CORNELIA But he lost in Spain, sir. Do not forget.

AENEAS Was that? Did you see-

CASTOR All I see are suckers!

SEMPRONIA Women should not show themselves in public.

CORNELIA And wives should stick by their husband’s side.

SEMPRONIA And girls should follow their mother’s actions.

CORNELIA I am nervous for him, Sempronia. 33.

SEMPRONIA If he truly is a Gracchus, mother, It is our Senate that makes me nervous. He seeks to start something without an end.

Gauis appears.

GAUIS Sorry I’m late. I was on Mars’ field Training, some more. My uncle talks a lot.

CORNELIA Not a word, daughter. Not here, in public.

SEMPRONIA Public is the only place words matter.

CORNELIA So get up there young sir! Support your blood! If someone told me that having jewels Meant that I always would have to shine them...

Gauis leaves for the rostra, where Tiberius is preparing for his speech.

GAUIS Good luck brother. I hope your speech goes well.

TIBERIUS I hope it inspires people like you We need people to start dreaming again But hopefully not fall asleep while I speak.

He addresses the crowds.

Friends, my friends, calm. Thank you all for coming. Please all bow your heads and say a prayer That we meet in peace after the night’s storm. And indeed I know many of you think Last night was some sort of sign from the Gods And I cannot tell you what to believe. I can only stand in front of you now Tell you who I am and what I believe. Tell you about some things I have realized. You may have heard our nation won a war It was cold, it was bloody, but we won! 34.

And yes, the same man who speaks to you now Was the first man over Carthage’s walls. I helped defeat Rome’s greatest enemy! But that war now seems a lifetime ago Like ancient history already writ The wars of grandfathers now fight with dust Their stories are safely on the bookshelf. Instead, I know you have all heard of Spain Where the masters of the world could not seem To force a backwater swamp to defeat. And where I so dishonorably did, Well, in the eyes of our esteemed Senate, Did save the lives of every soldier there! But I stand here, today as a Roman, A citizen, just like you. I do not Intoxicate with rhetoric or fear! I speak from the depths of my tortured soul And follow Cato the censor’s advice: ‘Grasp the subject and the words will follow’. I have already told you who I am A soldier, a champion, a human, But I am not my subject. Who we are. Who we are and who we can one day be, That is why I come before you today. Now my mind reaches to another quote Repeated daily by that wise Cato. On ending any speech to the Senate He said, you know, “Carthage must be destroyed!” And thus, we did! And now, victorious We are the gatekeepers of the free world. Does Carthage not now kneel in dominance? Does Carthage even exist anymore? But, my friends, I come today with bad news Our enemy has been gaining power Influencing us, hiding in the shade! For we have learned that war is no longer Able to combat this growing darkness. Dominance leads to more dominium Over land and slaves that we bled to win! And now they say war is just for profit! That we fought in Spain not for hearts and minds But instead to secure more silver mines? No my friends, no. We have failed our founders. So maybe you believe it was a lie To found a shining city on a hill That even they did not really believe. 35.

Or more it was fake, because of their lives Those hypocritical lies that they lived. Let me tell you something about failure, As someone who has lived and learned from it: Ideals are a sea that oft swallow men They drown you if you do not take a breath And while the younger seem to swim farther The old only remember their drowning. They sit telling stories with salty tongue. And like this sea, who we are oft changes But the basic water always abides: Better. That we will always be better. That we can build great ships to sail this sea And together we will discover that That humans do not need to walk on the land! But land, today, is why we are gathered. Why I want to propose legislation Humbly, here before my fellow tribunes, Designed to give soldiers what they fought for, To make sure no peasant will starve again! In short, I want to give out public land. Now, this makes many rich people nervous Our establishment Senators here now, Who now profit from the way things are done. And of course they will swear that they are servants And yes, we can see they serve big business Those who would hide their wealth behind a screen Or worst of all they serve only themselves! Through inaction or bluff they enrich themselves While sucking blood they decry parasites, Which reminds me of the last quote I know From Cato the Elder, that brilliant sage: ‘Thieves of private property pass their lives In jail and in chains, while thieves of public Property pass their lives in honored riches.’ No my friends, I believe we are better! I believe that this land is indeed your land! And I believe that we must fight for it! Together! To make us a better Rome! So now in the presence of the people, And to my fellow tribunes gathered here, I make a motion to read a new law: The Lex Agraria! Then let us vote! 36.

OCTAVIUS Veto! Veto! I veto this motion!

Commotion.

TIBERIUS Octavius? What do you mean by this?

OCTAVIUS As tribune I veto any new bill That has not first been read to the Senate! It is an irresponsible breakage With the laws and customs of our country!

CLAUDIUS There is no law that states where should a law Be read or presented to which body-

NASICA Except the unbroken law of tradition That the Senate must vote first on new laws!

TIBERIUS Octavius, my friend, is this your wish?

OCTAVIUS Tiberius, friend, I cannot stand by And watch you flout our country’s history.

TIBERIUS But our history is keeping us chained And you would watch us drown instead of live?

OCTAVIUS To stop you I would swallow the Tiber! My veto stays, Tiberius! It stands Against a mob that seeks to undo Rome To rape her bounty for their greedy lust! Led like sheep they sign their freedom away To this wolf who simply wants more power! As your faithfully elected tribune I stand before you today to tell you Tiberius leads you off to ruin! 37.

I hereby veto any reading of The Lex Agraria or land reform! And motion that this meeting is over!

Commotion.

END OF ACT I 38.

ACT II

I've done my best to live the right way I get up every morning and go to work each day...

-Bruce Springsteen 39.

SCENE 1

Later that night on a street off the Forum.

There is a temple or statue or object of Mars.

STRABO Drama, drama, in the Forum! Oh gods!

MARTIUS What change has changed our tribune’s public faces?

STRABO Changed from civility to anarchy As proud Octavius did double cross Our fierce Ti-ber, victor-i-ous, ha!

MARTIUS ‘Twas no tie, instead he gave a frosty ‘no!’, brrr! And e-en augurs were as shocked as us.

STRABO My friend, I fear that tie-m the joke failed. Burn! Just declare m-e the more humorous, ha!

MARTIUS You the wittier but I the stronger!

They tussle.

STRABO Peace, peace. There can be no war in front of Mars.

MARTIUS Do you believe that Gods can infect you?

STRABO That is certainly a strange thing to say But it is night and we find ourselves alone. 40.

MARTIUS Perhaps a sip to steady forth our nerves.

STRABO Perhaps a bucket to drench out the fear!

MARTIUS Where again where we supposed to party?

STRABO They said meet at night by Mars’ portal!

MARTIUS Perhaps today’s events cancelled the mood! Young Gracchus was to save our sacred Rome But thwarted was he and forced to his home.

STRABO Don’t touch that dunce! This whole place is spooky! But so were today’s events quite kooky- AH! And we must speak through these two flukeys- AH!!

MARTIUS For Tiberius shall fight on- Help me! Meanwhile the Senate moves ahead its pawn.

STRABO Tiberius must prove himself the great Before he can declare a swift checkmate He must face down his friend in fierce debate. Gods! What the hell did you do you dumpling?

MARTIUS All I did was bump into this-

STRABO No! Wait-

MARTIUS And so after returning home from war Our hero learns that it will take much more. 41.

STRABO And more he’ll give until the dust is clear On a changed Rome shaped by a mortal mere. A family who’s blood revives the land

MARTIUS Into the Gracci house they make a plan. Watch their opponents those insects at night Plot and scheme and attempt to unite the right.

STRABO Here comes one now a wolf in a habit A hare-like hawk who feasts on young rabbits.

Nasica appears.

NASICA Well, well, have I stumbled onto a sabbat? And by my temple? Tsk, poor showing!

STRABO Your holiness it was his bumbling!

MARTIUS Me? I was not the one who said meet here!

STRABO But you were the clunk/ who thought that he was so smart-

MARTIUS /The clunk! I think you mean drunk for-

STRABO MARTIUS To! You!

NASICA My children, relax. I come here in jest. And my the Gods bless you on your revels.

STRABO I was not trying to rhyme with you, friend. 42.

MARTIUS I know. You could not have done so nicely Even if you tried thricely! I only joke.

STRABO Well I do not laugh! Do not touch anything!

They leave.

NASICA The people. What possible use are they? Besides as feeder for the war machine. Or tickets that propel you above them And help you better rip them off. Rip, them, I speak of tickets that you rip. Really? Oh please! You think that I am some villain? The Gods speak through me. I speak back to them! The pantheon, capital, sex, what else? Whatever you believe in, what drives you, I have seen it and worshipped it like you. No, I am not the real villain here, now And I have seen the price of change firsthand I bet you did not know I once was jailed. By Curatius the courageous, that swine Who thought we should respect the people more And almost lost for us our bloody war! But I recovered and now know the score And will not let change change Rome any more! So go ahead, hate me, call me sore I do not know you from some filthy whore! Or worse an immigrant from filthy shores! So go you before this lion will roar! For I go forth to sacrifice a boar Blood and death and wine go I to pour! As fires rage and reflect on the floor I banish you from peering at my core! And know you know not what will be in store! Whether it involves Gracchus and gore!

Nasica leaves. 43.

SCENE 2

The house of the Gracchi, that same night.

SEMPRONIA If I ever thought Octavius, that-

CORNELIA Peace my daughter, gossip never becomes.

SEMPRONIA Then let me become a man! They twitter Worse then schoolgirls about a schoolgirl dance.

CORNELIA I never agreed with your father’s choice To teach a girl to lead when she dances, Especially when he did not have to deal With the consequences of a stubborn-

SEMPRONIA As ladies we do not swear, Mother.

CORNELIA I swear I’ll make your lady hole larger If you keep insisting on provoking And irritating your fragile mother!

SEMPRONIA I bless the Gods they made me just like you.

CORNELIA Husbandless? Where is your Spanish hero?

SEMPRONIA I’m sure drumming up support for his cause.

CORNELIA One wonders if like fair Penelope My daughter sighs that her husband will leave, Or if she is more like fair Helena Who would launch a thousand ships to be free. 44.

SEMPRONIA I believe you just called me beautiful! But not enough perhaps to be a jewel? For as we know jewels must be masculine.

CORNELIA I worry about you my love, always. This world will never fit with your ideals Most dangerous is a woman who fights And lets her defeat poison her heart’s well. ‘Tis better to pull the strings from behind For then you are not defeated firsthand.

Tiberius, Gauis, Claudius, and Flaccus enter.

TIBERIUS Hello Mother, Sister. Where is my wife?

SEMPRONIA She is supervising the slaves cooking.

TIBERIUS Go to her and tell her we have guests. And tell her, I am sorry I forgot To remember to tell her. Send my love.

Sempronia leaves.

CORNELIA A long eventful day, Tiberius.

CLAUDIUS In all my years I swear this is the first Sacred tribune to defy his people! It is an outrage against everything This country stands for, fought for, everything!

FLACCUS Dear matron, it would please your pride to know Gauis spoke some words at our meeting hence And astonished all at his eloquence. 45.

CLAUDIUS He even got a joke in at the expense Of our Pontifex, our wise bridge builder Who seems to enjoy burning them all down!

CORNELIA I would expect nothing less. Come here son. My son. Have you even begun to pack? Get thee to your room, before you truly Experience my burning fury! Boys! I grieve that my oldest remains a child. How could you not foresee Octavius? Of course Nasica would resort to this! Or you, you dim-witted fool of a fool How could your Senate sources not see this? And you! Do not begin to charm my ear! I am not some innocent shy choir boy Bending over to take your silvery-

TIBERIUS Stop, Mom. It has been a long day, alright? It was unforeseen but not ultimate. We will reason with him, bring him around. But for tonight, no more politics, please? It is our last night with our loved Gauis Before we all must face our greatest fight It will consume every thought, everything, For war tests mettle and turns it to stone. So tonight, let us dream, before the fight.

They all leave inside.

Aemilianus appears, drunk.

AEMILIANUS Tiberius! Tiberius Gracchus!

TIBERIUS Hello, brother-in-law. Good evening.

AEMILIANUS I need conjecture! Conjunc-jugation! My wife must come to me before I go! How do I make her come? She never comes. 46.

TIBERIUS Perhaps by not getting drunk and yelling?

AEMILIANUS Drunk! Drunk? Drunk. What of it? I could still face Hannibald himself! Heh. Who is this of?

TIBERIUS That is Scipio Africanus, friend.

AEMILIANUS Friend. He is not our friend. Sitting there, bald. Bad. I want badly to be his equal.

TIBERIUS Perhaps you will be if you conquer Spain.

AEMILIANUS Dust. Dunes. Barren like your sister. Desert.

TIBERIUS I think you should go home now, my old friend.

AEMILIANUS Friend. I think you might have been my only- Forget it, huh? I go home to rest then. Tell your sister to bring Gauis with her And watch yourself, huh? Wish me luck abroad!

Aemilianus leaves. Tiberius thinks.

Sempronia enters.

SEMPRONIA They told me that my husband had arrived But instead I find my hero alone.

TIBERIUS They say that I defy the norms of Rome. But that man’s personal army he raised? That is more radical than any law I or Claudius can dream in our dreams. He worries me sister, but more I fear How my hero, you, will weather his moods, Or worse, his almost guaranteed triumphs. 47.

SEMPRONIA If there is any fear, it lives in me, For your fate, and what the Senate will do. Not some boy dressed in armor, waving his... He is mercury brother, he goes up He goes down, and your life does not change much. He is no earthquake, no roaring typhoon No storm in the mountains, lightning and all Flooding the city within seven hills Washing them clean so we can start again.

TIBERIUS Perhaps it would be better to be like him, Like Mercury, to have his winged shoes Not to mention his endless font of luck.

SEMPRONIA So maybe you are brother, you are too For you lead the dead into a new life All while speaking with voice sweeter then lyre.

TIBERIUS I am sure ‘a liar’ will follow my name. But you must go now to your husband’s house. To be a wife is to be religious But to deal with a drunk husband is divine. I will send Gauis to you soon, at once. His stubbornness takes after you, sister.

SEMPRONIA And his irritating nature, like you. I wonder how he will fare in war. Good luck tomorrow. Wish me luck tonight.

Sempronia leaves. Claudia enters.

CLAUDIA Your dinner is getting cold, your highness, And your guests are starting to wonder If their host would rather eat on his own.

TIBERIUS I do sincerely apologize, Ms. For my thoughts were bewildered by a nymph The vision of whom seems to stand before me. 48.

CLAUDIA Leave the sugar for the table, my love, If you do ever plan on coming back. What troubles my Tiberius, in there?

TIBERIUS Aemilianus, my sister, Gauis Octavius, Nasica, Flaccus Your father, my mother, the whole of Rome!

CLAUDIA That sounds like quite the burden you carry. Why not start with the problem of dinner? Of which fork or knife you will use to eat. And then after dinner, after your guests go, We can retire and discuss in depth How to relieve you of your heavy load.

TIBERIUS Why did the Gods bless me with this woman? Where did a virgin learn such impure thoughts? Vesta herself winks at you. I will come. But I must meet with Gaius my brother Bid him here and apologize to them. Make sure they salute him before he ships out.

Claudia leaves.

TIBERIUS If ever the day comes when women rule And men are executed for their cruelty I will die knowing my wife loved me too.

Gauis enters.

GAUIS They saluted me brother! Me! For real!

TIBERIUS For on this same night you become a man Gauis, tomorrow’s dawn sees you at war. And while I cannot teach you my lessons I hope the Gods will let me tell you true, 49.

For I do not know if we should ever- Forgive me brother, you remind me so, Of so many boys sent off to their deaths Those flowers cut down before they could bloom. For while death makes the best fertilizer Good soil never makes up for dead crop. Listen to your commanding officer. Do the worst tasks with the best energy Shine your shoes. Comb your hair. Books are your friend. And never forgot to write your mother. I’m sorry. You will do amazing things! Will be a man others want men to be, Kind, courageous, witty, smart. Be smart. Mistake are the tutors that teach the most. Dad wasn’t here to see you grown up, but I know he would have been so proud of you. Now go. Before you make me make the earth Saltier then the wide Aegean Sea. I love you Gauis, more then you will know. And I know the Gods will smile on you. Go! Run to Aemilianus’ house!

Gauis leaves.

And run towards a future no one can know.

Tiberius leaves. 50.

SCENE 3

A rowdy crowd at the Forum the next day.

AENEAS Tickets! Get ya tickets! Come see Part 2! The Rumble in the Rubble! One day only! Tiberius tussles with his Uncle! Octavius struggles with his gamble! Can he hold back the tide of the people? Can Tiberius wash roadblocks away?

DIDO Piss off will yah? You’re pissing off my friend!

AENEAS Tickets! Get your tickets to today’s match! A pissing contest between two old friends!

OCTAVIUS Friends, Romans, calm. I nearly said countrymen But I find it hard to look at my friend And see how he calls himself one of us!

TIBERIUS If to be a Roman is to own land Then my old friend, you look out on a sea Of nothing but foreigners and aliens! But I see hardworking men and women Who lost at a game with rules that were rigged Not to mention one they were forced to play. So if being a Roman is not a Gaul or Volscii, Then yes, I am not your countryman.

OCTAVIUS So if you agree you are not a Roman Where then do your allegiances lie, sir?

TIBERIUS Bad faith, my friend, that is not what I said. I simply stated I was not with you. 51.

I said I do not stand for a Rome Where exclusion makes an exclusive club. I do not swear allegiance to some Rome Where lies are worshipped next to Greed and Coin And I pray that you will forgo your claim.

OCTAVIUS Words, Tiberius, always more words! Your Rome is there, somewhere in the sky Higher then our highest aqueduct!

TIBERIUS And your Rome is low, below the earthworms! Where men become beasts, and beasts become rich! I know where I would rather spend my time.

OCTAVIUS What do you specifically plan to do? Land reform makes headlines, but when they go Who gets to decide who’s land is reformed?

TIBERIUS I take it my friend, you do not volunteer To lead the commission that will survey Public land that somehow has become not? But you would learn all this if you listened To the bill as it was read aloud! Then you could hear what specifics you wish.

OCTAVIUS Why don’t you take this bill to the Senate? Have them vote on it as they always do!

TIBERIUS But friend, Claudius the senior speaker Has tried countless times to drum up support, But only ever seems to hear long ‘no’s!’ From long nose himself, your friend Nasica! Was it not the highest priest in the land Who encouraged you to voice your veto? 52.

OCTAVIUS I sought his counsel, yes, but only because He is a man of faith, not partisan.

TIBERIUS Isn’t that the oldest trick in the book? To say that you only believe in what Makes Rome better and care not you the source? But records will show that there is a pattern Of pushing on Rome people who believe That government is a poisonous snake And must be strangled to save our babies! But wait! Our heroes in order to save Must now or then get bitten so that An antidote can be given to us! These brave souls must take a handout or two Or give public lands to their friends to own But rail against those living off the state!

OCTAVIUS I will not sit here and listen to this! This blasphemy against Rome’s Pontifex! My veto remains! My veto still stands! And if I be but a measly sea wall Against your tsunami of future change, Then here will I stand until I am but A ruin to when Rome was not ruined! The ways of the past guide us for a reason! Our forefathers built a house with a frame You want to bulldoze it? Build something new? Who are you Tiberius? Who are you? Can change really come from such a small man? Where is the man who I saw in Carthage? I see before me only a Spaniard. My veto stands! The bill shall not be heard! Nor will I listen to non-Romans lie! 53.

SCENE 4

The Gracchi house later that day.

CLAUDIUS ‘I will stand as a sea wall?’ Who says that? And to stand there and insult your name? Is there no decency left in our Rome?

FLACCUS And to think someday people might come to miss These golden days of dialogue of yore, When politics was not so personal.

CLAUDIUS And here he is decrying you and your Rejection of the way things have been done! No tribune has ever been so stubborn!

FLACCUS I fear extreme measures may be what’s right To best an extremist at his own game. If he wants to stop even a reading Perhaps we should stop everything as well.

TIBERIUS I am not sure what you propose my friend Though I like you am frustrated as hell.

FLACCUS If he wishes to impede Rome’s progress Why don’t we grant him what he hungers for? Show him that we will not back down or budge. Break his wall with the power of fury That organically comes from the pain Of a government that creaks to a halt.

TIBERIUS What say you Claudius of this new plan?

CLAUDIUS I know for sure that Nasica right now Is scheming for a checkmate against us, And we have limited other options. 54.

TIBERIUS Then inside we go to discuss this move I fear escalation as much as appeasement. 55.

SCENE 5

Nasica and Octavius meet outside the Regia.

NASICA I know how hard this must be for you, son. I myself faced many dark nights When against injustice I stood my ground, While around me it shook with cries from all ‘Change your course!’ ‘We hate you!’ Always the same! They hate the sheep who would make his own crook.

OCTAVIUS It flails my soul to hear my friend cry ‘Crook!’ But his words, his speeches, unleash in me A demon that would burn down all of Rome. I get so angry, and still I am mad! Perhaps I am just mad for thinking I, Me, can halt this unbridled passionate mob.

NASICA The people will always champion who They think is the truest of us leaders But the blind lead the blind only to ruin And everyone knows that how one is raised Determines whether you are fit to lead. Will mice lead owls to justice and peace? Or will Minerva’s own creatures instead Keep the population healthy, in step? Keep the trains running on time? Don’t you see? You are naturally fit to tell them what Is best for them because you know what’s best! Because you’ve had only the best in life. Come, let us inside, and pray for your health! Because you only break walls with hammers And who would dare go against a tribune? Only those who wish to go ‘gainst the Gods. 56.

SCENE 6

The Forum, the next day.

OCTAVIUS But Tiberius please! You stand up here You talk of justice and changing the world? The world only changes when you go back And follow the trails of old pioneers! There is a right way to get what you want! The Senate must hear of this bill of yours!

TIBERIUS How can a man so brave and so cunning Be this dull and stubborn, be so blind so long? Octavius! The Senate will not vote On the Lex Agraria because they Benefit from the status quo. Why change?

OCTAVIUS But you don’t know that unless you try it!

TIBERIUS What do you think is more likely to be? The rich, aristocratic senators Saying ‘You know what? Actually, no thanks! I want to give up my power and wealth! And these people I’ve trained myself to scorn? What the hell! Let them run the show! Why not?’ Or instead do they force us to shuffle The deck with cards not from the casino Ensuring that every hand is dealt fair?

OCTAVIUS I cannot on conscience withdraw my veto-

TIBERIUS Then you stubborn ass you leave me no choice! Since you want us to follow the old ways Unleash again the Conflict of the Orders! 57.

I go now to lock the treasury gates! And shut down our nation until you relent!

Anarchy. 58.

SCENE 7

A street outside the Forum.

OLD WOMAN You didn’t see that one coming, now did yah? That Tiberius is a tricky boy! I like to think it was my gift Gave him a bit of Aeneas’ guile. Or at least some of that Aeolian- Politicians. Contortionist for- pardon. A bit of the... Anyways. Young ears. Are you gonna buy something or just stare? I do say, I do say. Ah yes. Some rest. Wasn’t a heart that didn’t leap to hear Tiberius speak about the future! Course it doesn’t really matter, the specifics! He could read the tax code and we’d be rapt! And then with the twist ending? To go off? Lock the treasury with the Gracchi seal? I really cannot say what will happen. Forget whether he actually succeeds! This is the most exciting thing ever! ‘Course it does mean that business has suffered... And they whisper Tiberius hires gangs Or at least does not dissuade his tough guys From roaming the streets and terrorizing... Though that justifies the expulsion from Rome Every non-citizen, so more or less Everyone who does not like Nasica? Or his puppet Octavius, that dunce? I am not sure. It’s dangerous, the past. This past too. The Conflict of the Orders The bloody struggle to create a week To wrest from the powers two days of rest? Now that was a contract stained with some blood! But of course they’ve always been your friend, right! Benevolent fathers leading us true You just have to see history like them: Manicured and cleansed like everything else Discomfort banished from their perfect lives. But hey. What do I know? I’m pretty old. And elders should take care of themselves, right? 59.

Since their children are pawns to pay off debt. Aw forget it. There’s something in my eye.

A gang of hoodlums approaches.

JUVENAL Well, well, well. What have we found today, friends?

VIRGIL Seems like we intrude on some sort of scene?

CYCLOPS That’s a big word, intrude! What does it mean?

OLD WOMAN It rhymes with ‘rude’ you big oaf, so there’s a clue And there’s nothing going on. Just sitting.

JUVENAL Just sitting as the rest of Rome paces? Worrying about the new state of things?

VIRGIL ‘What will Tiberius do next?’ ‘OMG’ ‘I heard there’s gangs running around in Rome!’

CYCLOPS Gangs? There’s gangs in the streets? What will we do?

JUVENAL Hey, buddy, we are the gang, remember?

CYCLOPS Oh yeah. We’re supposed to rob people. Rich ones.

VIRGIL Does this lady look rich to you Tiber?

JUVENAL I don’t know Tiber, why don’t you ask her?

CYCLOPS But Tiber isn’t your name Juvenal And yours is Virgil- 60.

JUVENAL Shut up you hippo! We talked about using our code names, yes? We follow Tiberius, hence Tiber. We have no name but that of our cause: To see the river that gives Rome its life Flow with riches and nourish the poor.

OLD WOMAN Right. Well, I’m gonna leave you to that I got lots of work to do for the cause!

VIRGIL But, dear madam, you have not shown if you Have coin to contribute to Tiber’s cause Or if we must remove the dam from it.

OLD WOMAN Now friends, a little old lady like me? Do you think that I have serious wealth? Or does it rather go all towards my health?

CYCLOPS Oh. I like her! She rhymes! Do it again!

OLD WOMAN Now sweetheart, I just know a few limericks. I’m just a lady who knows when to leave.

CYCLOPS Stay and tell me a rhyme! Again. Again!

JUVENAL I don’t think you want to make our friend mad.

OLD WOMAN Right. If I do will you leave me alone?

VIRGIL There’s nothing valuable here anyways.

JUVENAL The stage is yours, madam. Take it away. 61.

OLD WOMAN Talking about a stage. I’m no actress. So don’t you get any ideas, hm?

There once was a man with long nose A priest from his head to this toes Romans must be Greeks As he spreads his cheeks From their head down to their toes!

CYCLOPS Bravo! Bravo! Another one! One more!

OLD WOMAN There once was a man from the city Who wanted a home not too gritty Then came Land Reform And a farm! With worms! But no one mentioned it would be sh- Sho pretty!

JUVENAL Very funny. Though I detect a strain Of anti-Gracchan undertones. Do you?

VIRGIL Yes. Yes, I think I do too. Very sad To find a commoner not one of us.

OLD WOMAN Wait. That was not the deal you gave me!

JUVENAL I think it is now. Sorry my love.

Suddenly Lucius appears.

LUCIUS You there! Stop molesting that Old Woman!

VIRGIL Brother! Brother! There is no need for that. We were just gathering ‘round for her rhymes. 62.

CYCLOPS She rhymes really very good. Yes she does!

LUCIUS Are they speaking the truth my good woman?

OLD WOMAN Yeah. They are. And I got one more to tell.

Tiberius has raised a mob Who clamor for land and for jobs ‘Come join us!’ cry them ‘Change isn’t a sin!’ ‘And together we’ll all rub our knobs!’

LUCIUS Peace. Or I will be tempted to use this.

VIRGIL I think you may face temptation sooner Then your pretty boy act may expect. I oft find the best way to deal with scum Is after it’s been crushed under my boot.

JUVENAL Come Tiber let us away from this fight.

VIRGIL And away from this opportunity? Lucius Opimius here in the flesh The bulldog of Nasica needs to be taught!

LUCIUS And the bitch of Tiberius must learn That aristocrats rule for a reason!

They fight.

Not bad. Though I was not expecting much.

They fight more. Virgil is defeated. 63.

So now you learn you miserable gupper Do not go against the powers-that-be!

Lucius kills Virgil.

JUVENAL No! You did not have to kill him, demon!

LUCIUS He did not have to fight, you dirty cur!

They fight. Lucius kills Juvenal.

The state will abide! Order must remain!

OLD WOMAN He is gentle and wishes you no harm.

LUCIUS Then he is smarter then his friends, the ghosts! I know you from selling in the Forum.

OLD WOMAN Just an old woman with failing eyesight!

LUCIUS Do not fail to forget what I have done To those who would seek to irritate me.

OLD WOMAN Glory to Rome! Glory to the Senate!

Lucius leaves.

CYCLOPS Why did he have to do that to my friends? When they didn’t do anything to him? Tell me why he did this? Why? Tell me!

OLD WOMAN Shush. I know. Shush. The best marker for change Is always the undertaker’s whistle As business booms and dreamers move to tombs. I know you like it when I rhyme. Come on. Let us get off the streets of this city Because I know blood always run downhill. 64.

The Old Woman and her new charge exit.

The bodies remain. 65.

SCENE 8

The Senate the next day. Tiberius and Octavius are attempting to come to terms.

CLAUDIUS My esteemed Senators, we all know why The events of our city call us here. We must mediate between our tribunes In order to stop this foolish shut down.

NASICA Well I’m glad you mention that Claudius! This shutdown instigated by this man. Does he think he is above us all? That he alone can stop the worshipping? That he alone decides if Rome functions? No, my friends, I do not see a tribune! I see a failure, and one who would seek To consolidate power, to be king!

CLAUDIUS Order! Order! We must be impartial! Have you no decency left in your corpse? The charge of monarchy is serious And should not be made without evidence!

NASICA What more evidence do you need old man? He ignores the Senate and our rights! He proposes legislation to change The balance of power to suit himself! This child before me is not my blood And angers his grandfather and the Gods!

CLAUDIUS Order! Order! We are supposed to help Not criticize one side or the other! 66.

NASICA We will be impartial when before us We see no man seeking to make himself king!

Tiberius storms out.

CLAUDIUS Order! Order! Tiberius! Wait! Order!

Right outside the Senate.

OCTAVIUS Tiberius! Wait! Come back to the floor!

TIBERIUS For what? So they can insult me some more? So they can sentence me to death, maybe?

OCTAVIUS Nasica became hysterical, he-

TIBERIUS Stop defending him! He jerks you around Like some children’s puppet, his hand so far Inside you he only snaps and you sing.

OCTAVIUS You bastard!

Octavius and Tiberius fight.

Claudius and Nasica appear to break it up

CLAUDIUS Hey! Break it up! Stop this now! Hey! You are tribunes! You are sacrosanct. Start acting like your roles command you to.

TIBERIUS Tell him to stop being so partisan!

OCTAVIUS I will start following rules when you do! You will have to depose me to change me! 67.

TIBERIUS Then I with full power as your tribune, Do here in the presence of the Senate Motion to begin the process to depose Marcus Octavius, tribune of the plebs, Because his words and actions go against The people who elected him to serve!

NASICA Tiberius Gracchus you go to far!

TIBERIUS No Publius Scipio Nasica Cornelius Serapio, my uncle Pontifex Maximus you go too far! Call all the tribes to gather for a vote! Summon the Comitia Tributa! I call for a referendum on him! I go now to pray and see the augurs.

Tiberius leaves.

CLAUDIUS Now see what your scheming has created? You would undermine Rome you foolish asp.

NASICA You will feel my bite soon enough old man.

They leave. 68.

SCENE 9

Outside Octavius’ house later that night. It has been graffitied or vandalized somehow.

OCTAVIUS My slave told me I had a visitor? I wish he would better screen my time. What?

TIBERIUS I come not to fight over politics But to call on an old friend for advice Is Gavia inside? May I come in?

OCTAVIUS I think we both know that friend moved long ago With broken heart and bitter tasting tears. Betrayed by someone who he once had loved And fought with in the great war for the world. No, that man no longer calls this place home Even though this graffiti claims that he does. He has moved on, as I think you should too.

TIBERIUS I was going to compliment you on- I love what you’ve done with the place, old friend.

OCTAVIUS I do not wish to speak to you tribune A title I may soon no longer hear. Or is that what you come to mock me for? Join your mobs in tormenting my family?

TIBERIUS I do not condone violence, you know this.

OCTAVIUS Then at least condone control! This is mad! They say there are murders! Here! In Rome!

TIBERIUS People die everyday from poverty Here, in Rome. And we have the chance to help. Withdraw your veto Octavius, please! 69.

OCTAVIUS We shall see tomorrow how people vote.

TIBERIUS The augurs bode well, Octavius, please! Just revoke your veto you stubborn fool!

OCTAVIUS And shall I revoke my name while I do? Shall I just wipe clean what Rome has stood for? In a day you would destroy everything!

TIBERIUS And you would destroy yourself for some whim? So that history will always hear how Marcus Octavius stood up against The people of Rome and their cries for change?

OCTAVIUS Do you think land reform will change things? That these robbers will somehow overnight Magically transform into yeoman? If private property is not believed What stops us becoming like wild beasts? Would you wish Rome to become like the Gauls?

TIBERIUS We can never know what is to happen Until we actually take an action!

OCTAVIUS An action to which there is no return! After you do this there is no return! Tiberius you wish to remake Rome Into a place that I don’t recognize!

TIBERIUS And why should you? You’ve always fit in here! These walls may be ugly but they will heal! And we will be gone within twenty years, Replaced by young men who look just like us Who dream in their youth only to forget That dreams do not come only from slumber 70.

And they sleep until they dream no longer! Wake up, Octavius, we can change things! You don’t have to recognize future Rome But you also don’t have to be blinded By the structure, by rose glasses that see Only the way things always have been! Change is scary, yes, but stasis is worse And takes much more empathy and courage. I respect your steadfastness in your choice, But if you will not relent, neither will I. And you force my hand in calling this vote.

OCTAVIUS We have never impeached an acting tribune.

TIBERIUS We have never had one so obdurate!

OCTAVIUS Or a tribute so intent on progress On getting things done, tradition be damned! I worry where next you might travel.

TIBERIUS Even you cannot believe Nasica! Do you really think that I want a king? Especially if it means I must rule Troublemakers like you who would not cease In plotting to overthrow my kingdom. You have been enough trouble already. I dream about fighting Carthage again At least there we could fight with swords, not words. Sometimes I wonder if that is not when, When we became the masters of the world After being underdogs for so long That now we must turn into our nightmares. I am sorry I lost my temper today. When I debate you its like some, demon-

OCTAVIUS I understand. I am also sorry. But I still cannot retract my veto Even for an old friend, Tiberius. 71.

TIBERIUS You break my heart Octavius, right here. And I cannot protect you tomorrow.

OCTAVIUS Thank you. But if I once fought fierce Carthage A mob of beggars does not give me fear. Even though I may lose my protection I still have a bit of fight left in me. Goodnight. Be safe walking home, old friend.

Octavius leaves.

TIBERIUS I know not what man passes before me Or if instead I commune with a ghost. A fossil from some old age that has passed Where men had creeds, but more, they believed them Where honor was more then a hollow word From what nation, what continent, what book? Does this specter appear with crown shining? It must be the work of a place and time Where stories ruled with an ironclad fist They fired the engines of great nations They calmed us through peace, they inspired war Until one day their power declined And from under their rusted fists we did flee Shaking our heads that we believed at all. But cunning they are, these stories of old They want back their power over our minds And they raise the dead with their black magic Though I know that they also orchestrate Words like justice and equality To serve in their plot to rule us again. And how can I sit here and look in awe At my friend when I am similar took By emperors of fiction, kings of lie! Though mine wear the colors of land reform, Underneath their armor they’re stories too And seek to use me in their vicious plan! Gods! Again, I quiver, gnash my teeth! Why was I made stubborn and then at night Guilty and feckless and gelatin heart? 72.

If he wants to stop the progress of Rome Whether or not I am ruled by stories Then nothing will stop me to defeat him! I would burn down this city and her hills To get what I want from this corrupt place! I would myself again conquer Carthage If it meant that no longer would someone Starve in the streets or die in the gutter Simply because they had the rotten luck To be born in a country that did not Even try to live up to ideals, Because it was hard or cost too much change No. This suffering I see is no tale And sometimes your enemy can aid you He was a ghost and I know he’ll find rest. 73.

SCENE 10

The forum the next day. All the tribes of Rome have gathered to vote on Octavius.

TIBERIUS Good citizens of Rome, I welcome you! To cast your votes as your ancestors have To flex that muscle that makes us so strong For democracy is more than a word It is a habit that you must do And one that you must exercise daily! But today we gather unusually To vote to depose my fellow tribune Marcus Octavius from his command. Do not vote lightly for we tread down paths No Roman has walked on in our long past But we do know the destination, friends! Today you vote on whether this roadblock Will forever stand across our journey For as Romans, aren’t we known for our roads? Their design, their unstoppable nature Against mountains massive and pebbles small? But choose your own way you thirty five tribes We need but a majority to speak. And though the Senate tries to tilt the scale To gerrymander and expel from Rome All non-citizens who have been your friends, We know they prove themselves scared of this! Scared of you all, gathered together here! One nation, speaking with votes and with minds As one, agreeing to change everything! So begin! Command your wish citizens!

Controlled chaos as the company divides the audience into tribes. Each actor should ask their section “Who here wishes to vote to depose?”

There should be a central point or urn where the vote tallies go. 74.

Depart to your separate groups citizens!

Whichever actor is chose by lot or wants to or finishes first announces the first result, which should be to depose, but this is democracy after all, and showbiz, so why don’t we just see what the people think?

POLLSTER 1 The Succusana Tribe has been counted!

TIBERIUS What does the principium tribe wish?

POLLSTER 1 Tribune, our tribe votes: to depose Octavius.

TIBERIUS Calm! Calm! Does this not sway your mind? Remove your veto and this can be stopped!

OCTAVIUS Remove your bill and I will back down.

TIBERIUS All of the tribes vote against you, you mule!

Indeed, whether or not the audience is divided into eighteen groups, the votes all should unanimous. All results should be announced and tallied or displayed.Please contact the author if they aren’t. Anyways, the vote should be stopped before the last one.

TIBERIUS Octavius, I beg you. Please back down! These people are going to depose you!

OCTAVIUS Then I shall be an angel without wings.

POLLSTER 2 The Pupinia Tribe has been counted! 75.

TIBERIUS What does this tribe of Romans wish?

POLLSTER 2 Tribune, we vote to depose Octavius.

Anarchy.

TIBERIUS Then, invested with the power of Rome I now depose Marcus Octavius And remove all powers vested with him! I can no longer protect you my friend But I will give you my herald Harold To guide you home and protect you from harm. Goodbye my friend. I will look for you soon.

OCTAVIUS I hope that you know what you’re doing. And pray that I too will seen you again. Cheater.

TIBERIUS People, Romans! Be calm. Please, peace my friends! Now with sacred veto withdrawn from us I motion that the Lex Agraria Be read and voted on by the people! Depart to your separate groups citizens!

Again, we vote. The actors ask their section “Who here wishes to vote for land reform?”

What happens if land reform is voted down? I guess we’ve finally succeeded in diversifying our audiences.

Whoever finished first or is nominated announces:

POLLSTER 3 The Suburana Tribe has been counted!

TIBERIUS What does the principium tribe wish? 76.

POLLSTER 3 Tribune, the vote is for land reform: yes!

Anarchy.

TIBERIUS Peace. There is still democracy present! We still need quorum to make this a law Let us see if the people are with us.

All votes should be tallied and displayed.

If it loses, well, the audience has spoken, and the company gets an unplanned night off! Isn’t democracy wonderful?

My friends, citizens, thank you for your votes. The bill has passed and our work continues! I now move to nominate the people Who will populate the land committee. I nominate myself as the chair And as a gesture of goodwill, to show The Senate who have been so kind to us I nominate Appius Claudius Pulcher, speaker of the Senate, and friend, As well as my absent brother Gauis To review and distribute out your land! Now before we call this meeting adjourned A word of caution to anyone who Would use this new bill as some sort of cloak To do violence in the name of Gracchus! We have much work to do before we can Begin to think of a celebration. So much work lies ahead, but you have shown That Rome, indeed, can be built in a day! A new Rome for you, by you, for us all! Hail Rome! Hail the people! Rome is reborn!

END OF ACT II 77.

ACT III

Blow away the dreams that tear you apart! Blow away the dreams that break your heart! Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted!

-Bruce Springsteen 78.

SCENE 1

Two guards outside the temple of Saturn a few days later.

AUGUSTUS Who goes there? Reveal yourself! False alarm.

JULIUS I too fear we face an epidemic Of wandering, misbehaving stray kittens.

AUGUSTUS Piss off. It was at least a large raccoon.

JULIUS It could very well have been a hell mount Let loose from the gates of the underworld Prowling the night in search of a victim!

AUGUSTUS Keep laughing, Julius, but be prepared The very air now has more of a weight. A fight is coming and I can feel it The Conflict of the Orders has returned.

JULIUS Aye. I wish they asked our opinion On which part of the Conflict of Orders We wanted: choose conflict or choose order!

AUGUSTUS I choose conflict any day of the week! I hate working these night shifts. They spook me.

JULIUS Aye it SPOOKS me too. Relax, Augustus.

AUGUSTUS You keep mocking me but not this weapon! I keep it for these alleys full of ghosts. 79.

JULIUS Between the shut down and the banishment It’s easy to imagine one day This quiet will be the music for our Rome.

AUGUSTUS So now the cards are dealt and it is time For history does not repeat, it rhymes And everything revolves around a sign.

JULIUS Did you just speak in rhymed meter? Hello?

AUGUSTUS Tiberius has passed his brand new bill Though forced his friends to swallow bitter pill His plan shall cost more then a single will.

JULIUS But fate is not in stone ever true set! Instead it is a finely meshed net And if you escape there’s ever a yet.

AUGUSTUS Or is fate as unlikely as the curse? To bewitch twits into speaking verse? I cannot decide which one is the worst!

JULIUS But now comes a man heading to that house

AUGUSTUS Where even elephants bow to a mouse

JULIUS And who set in motion his daughter’s spouse!

Claudius appears.

CLAUDIUS Good evening guards! Yes I feel jumpy too. But mostly tired. Tired of all this. Where are you going? Guards! Come back here! Strange. I suppose I may resemble a ghost! These streets no longer look like those of Rome They remind me of a dream I just had... 80.

But no, I am going to the Senate I cannot lose the momentum we’ve gained! For our dream of land reform now begins! But my dream... it troubled me, troubles still. I give no stock to interpreting dreams To find my deep held longing for my Mom. But still to turn it over in my head I wonder what it tells me of my fate And hard as I try I cannot stop! I dreamed that I walked into a hot room With wooden floors and one stained glass window And the ground was covered in string or hair It kept changing each time I looked at it. And as I kept walking into this room My eyes were drawn to three women at work At one glance they were the most beautiful Most stunning women that I ever saw! But after a step I saw them again Change into old hags, pockmarked and cruel. Laughing the whole time they cut up their string But another step and their laughs became That sweetest sound: the music of the spheres! As I got close I swear that I saw My reflection in the thread that they sowed But then it was Octavius’ face And then the face of Tiberius! But before I could get any closer The hair from the floor rose up and began To strangle my cries and my very life! And I woke up screaming with hair on my tongue. Aye. Was a very troubling vision That will trouble me as I go on my way Without my title: princeps senatus I lost it to that sea slug Nasica. A battle awaits our movement I fear. These streets like a sponge. Rome is on the brink!

Claudius leaves. 81.

SCENE 2

The Senate.

NASICA Order! Order! May I remind this house That no longer does Claudius rule you And since I am the princeps senatus You impetuous rabble of ‘fat cats’ This Senate will be observing its past And following the ways of our elders.

CLAUDIUS Will the speaker recognize the former-

NASICA No he will not. Claudius, this is fun. Please let us debate and vote on this bill!

CLAUDIUS I propose-

NASICA Claudius is not recognized.

CLAUDIUS Listen here-

NASICA The senator must be quiet And respect the Speaker’s wishes and rules! Right. Now, it has come to our attention That the plebeians have decided that The customs of our country, our empire, Are simply inconvenient and thus They can ignored, exploited for gain! They are led by Tiberius Gracchus That coward who lost our Spanish silver Who in the name of progressivism Blames us! Scapegoats us for his failure! Who wants nothing more then to steal our wealth 82.

That we worked and slaved for, and give it away! To who? To the carcasses on the street? They suck this government dry anyways! Why should we pay if they have failed at life? We have no support system if we fail! And he thinks they will magically succeed? That years of training them to be losers Will be turned over with the first hoe strike? No, my friends, this is but a see-through plot That attacks what has always made us great: Businesses, entrepreneurs and faith Faith that life is not something doled out But won in a contest between equals! Look to Carthage to see how change has fared! Aye. I now concede the floor. Let me guess-

CLAUDIUS I am glad that our esteemed new voice Mentions a war that he did not serve in! But no one here needs reminding of that.

NASICA Perhaps they need to be reminded of your Own great triumph that you threw for yourself! And were only spared when your brave daughter Bared herself between you and a tribune!

CLAUDIUS But honored speaker I thought you believed In restoring the customs of Old Rome? That when a senator concedes the floor It means they shut up and listen in peace! But of course all you’ve ever known is peace All most of you, really. For even when We fought dusty demons in the desert Our boots were cleaned before we knocked at home. Even when we bested great Hannibal And spread the light of our country to all We returned home to find our greatest foe Was not the sword or exotic climates But was instead the end of our history! The irony was that once we had won Our domestic fractures became our curse! 83.

NASICA Do you yield the floor yet, pest Claudius?

CLAUDIUS I have no desire to block this vote Unlike you and your scheming Nasica. But I do wonder why hate makes you so. Age gives wisdom as often as blindness And you do Rome no honor acting so! I cede the floor to the honored speaker.

NASICA The speaker moves to ratify the law By the plebeians for this land reform. Remember only senators can vote. All in favor say ‘aye’.

All actors in favor say Aye.

Against say ‘nay’.

All actors in favor say Nay.

The Lex Agraria is now the law. The speaker now allocates the budget With no debate because it is my right And I allocate twenty dinarii Per month/

CLAUDIUS /I object! This is scandalous!

NASICA And woe to him that seeks to be our king!

CLAUDIUS I object Mr. Speaker! This is wrong! 84.

SCENE 3

The Gracchi household.

CLAUDIA They say the war in Spain is going well And your husband will soon rout the rebels.

SEMPRONIA And come back to find his own household Has become a den of fierce sedition.

CORNELIA Can you not for once support you husband?

SEMPRONIA If you’d have arranged me to marry one.

CORNELIA Or maybe I should have followed your dad And sent my daughter away to worship With the Vestals for thirty years! The dream...

SEMPRONIA Don’t give me that sending me away/ bit! It worked when I was young but now gives/ hope Of escape you sarcastic/ old codger

CORNELIA /Oh, so now that you have returned and grown? /I must call the herald! /Parenting// through sarcasm made you, girl//

SEMPRONIA //Or parroting! You wouldn’t dare! //Do not call me girl!

CORNELIA Stop acting like one!

SEMPRONIA If you didn’t always nag me Mother! 85.

CORNELIA If you just became a mother yourself! You know I did not mean that, I did not-

SEMPRONIA I know very well what you meant, matron. Mother of Rome, woman of the people!

CLAUDIA Hey, look, stop! Both of you. I should not speak But this is not helping your brother’s cause.

SEMPRONIA Well, well, well. The virgin finally speaks!

CORNELIA Daughter-

SEMPRONIA Because you would die for him, right? Your hero! Rome’s jewel! Our saintly Gracchus The man we spend all our time discussing!

Tiberius indeed enters with Claudius.

TIBERIUS And who, pray tell, dear sister, would that be?

SEMPRONIA You, you miserable lunk, who blindly goes Where we wants, without a thought of safety!

TIBERIUS The people of Rome protect me from harm.

SEMPRONIA And what about the people who run Rome? Do you think they will be scared of your friends?

CORNELIA Your sister has gotten hysterical- 86.

SEMPRONIA I’m the only level-headed one here! I refuse to pretend everything’s fine! That the Senate will just roll over now! Won’t just come in the night to kill you, us!

CLAUDIUS He is still a tribune and sacrosanct.

SEMPRONIA His term expires soon! Are you all thick? And since you lost the speakership, what then? Do we wait for Gauis to make us all safe? Off galloping with that curd, my husband? Or do we wait longer for my children A future that will never come to pass.

TIBERIUS I know, hey, I know. The tide never seems To change until it does. And then we look Across the beach, marveling at our luck And seeing so clearly the waves’ retreat.

CLAUDIUS She is right, Tiberius. You are not Safe once you are no longer a tribune.

TIBERIUS Then why should I not be elected twice? If the Senate does not follow custom Why can I not follow their lead? Run twice?

CORNELIA My son, I hope this is not ambition That kindles fire behind sparkling eyes But instead some practical joke that you try.

TIBERIUS I must see through the Lex Agraria! No other tribune has my skill or brain. They will all break apart on the Senate And their dangerous shoals of trickery! You say that my life is now in peril But what of the danger in slowing down? We have momentum unseen in our time 87.

People are finally coming awake And struggle to rock themselves back to sleep!

CLAUDIUS But why not wait a year? They still will be The followers of Tiberius then!

SEMPRONIA And you will still be alive to lead them!

TIBERIUS My sister, my mother, my father here Give me counsel about my land council. What say you Claudia, my faithful wife?

CLAUDIA I lament that your future comes to this And I fear for your life just like they do. That you will be of the land that you gift Once you are not a sacrosanct tribune A martyr always looks better on stage Rather then dead in an alley somewhere.

TIBERIUS You fear I shall die if I do not run? But you fear what happens if I run twice? Both options seem to promise death, I fear.

CLAUDIUS How about we eat and think it over? Empty answers come from empty stomachs And I know I have a lot to think on!

Suddenly Flaccus runs in.

FLACCUS Death! Murder! Tiberius! My friends! Death!

CORNELIA What demon of fury animates you? Speak man! Tell us your tale of rank murder. 88.

FLACCUS I went to check on Harold and his charge Octavius like you had asked me to. No water! And no one else should eat too. For on arriving to that great estate Octavius was hosting a small feast His family was getting out of Rome! His wife, his son? His dog? Gods, the horror! Just before toasting his thankful chalice Harold, your herald, being a donkey Saw an opportunity to practice His latest speech from some new tragedy And ended up toasting to his own death!

TIBERIUS You say that Harold has been killed?

FLACCUS Worse still. All of the kin of Octavius too. And now he walks the streets a blind beggar And I would be with him if I had not Paused before I had drunk down my wine To mock applaud Harold’s goofy speech. Gods! With Octavius joining me quickly But not quick enough to stop the poison From burning his mouth, from choking his throat! All at the table succumbing to poison! I found myself seated at a party Hosted by Death and his cruel laughter!

TIBERIUS But you say that Octavius still lives?

FLACCUS I do, friend, but his is not any life Known to any mortal who’ve kept their minds.

CLAUDIUS This is certainly troubling, Flaccus And would send any into hysterics. Mostly, my heart breaks for Octavius. 89.

TIBERIUS Have every cup and plate washed and rewashed And please be present while my wish is done. I must ask the people to protect us.

Sempronia and Claudia leave.

CORNELIA Caution, son. Some may believe this was you Getting revenge on Octavius

TIBERIUS Mom-

CORNELIA And I wonder if you have it within.

TIBERIUS I may have wished him pain while in fury But this is some plot that I did not see. We must now begin to start our mourning For Harold and for Marcus’ family.

Cornelia leaves.

CLAUDIUS You may yet mourn and advance your own goals. For funeral orations can be made To help out the living more then the dead. I say with the utmost tone of respect.

FLACCUS Sometimes you amaze even me, my friend.

CLAUDIUS Where else can you speak against the Senate? We are stuck without money or power! Unless you have a better suggestion?

FLACCUS No man’s suffering should be made fodder For your agenda you miserable man Especially suffering on this scale! 90.

CLAUDIUS Oh! Has Flaccus suddenly found conscience? After all these years of railing against How our slave morality makes us weak? After his first glimpse of death how he shakes! And ignores his perfect chance to check-mate Nasica and this whole system he hates!

TIBERIUS Enough, friends, enough. This day hurts enough Without adding our own slights to its score. I do not wish to hurt Octavius For his fate was supposed to be mine. And Harold was alway’s somebody’s fool I did not think that his final performance Would be to even make Death laugh aloud! No, if this was the work of Nasica Then it lights my fire even more so. Would I see our high priest burned at the stake And a baptismal fire sweeping Rome If only to pay back pain for his pain.

CLAUDIUS My friend, this is a dark road you walk on Revenge has no kith or kin to guide you And leads you to a destination sure.

TIBERIUS And what destination would that be? Death? Stop speaking in riddles and parables! What would you do if you were in my place? What choice do I have old man? Can you choose? I cannot simply abandon my cause Because I finally start making waves! For bodies are a sure sign of success It means that you are starting to scare them! You’re right. It’s not like money will appear From heaven to fund our land commission! So let us breathe, and mourn, for a moment.

They leave. 91.

SCENE 4

The forum, the next day.

DIDO Friends! Romans! Have you heard the latest news?

AENEAS Friends! Gather round here! You will not believe Money has appeared from heaven to fund The land commission of Tiberius!

CASTOR Where does this money appear from, heralds?

DIDO We come from Pergamon, that great city! The last stand between the Greeks and Persia! And from our king, wise Attalus the Third Who, upon his peaceful and calm passing-

AENEAS Willed to the Roman people his kingdom!

DIDO And all of its multifold gold treasures!

AENEAS We come from the king’s official envoy Who pauses for rest at the Gracchi house Because of the elder Gracchi’s good name We go now to the Senate to tell them!

DIDO But first we were told to tell the public In this great forum that centers your life! This marketplace that also is your stage.

POLLUX So you go, you say, off to tell the Senate? 92.

AENEAS It was our sacred vow to our dead king.

DIDO We heard some rumors on our travels here Is it true what they say about this man? Our host Tiberius who wants a throne? He quickly claimed the treasure for his plan.

CASTOR What say you of our Gracchus grabbing gold?

AENEAS Later my friend we must be on our way! Your hero comes with our boss right behind!

Tiberius enters leading a funeral procession.

FLACCUS Make way! Make way! Please good folk, move along!

POLLUX Are the rumors true that Tiberius Has seized a crown and makes himself king?

FLACCUS Please move along now! This is a funeral!

CASTOR Is it true that he killed Octavius? Is this the body of Octavius?

The procession reaches the rostra.

CLAUDIUS He will speak now, please, be calm, countrymen! Please respect this act of mourning! Be calm! He speaks of Harold, his oldest friend. Strength.

TIBERIUS Many of you never knew this herald Never heard him speak, his silly speeches. Never had the chance to see his legs run Usually because he had overslept And had to rush to deliver his news. But I know Harold. I have seen his face. 93.

He died making a speech. He died last night Because of a senseless act of terror He was poisoned at a dinner party! Thrown by my enemy Octavius Who so principled, stood against all Rome And was rewarded with his family slain. He is now blind and helpless and wanders These very streets, now. I have seen his face. And that mountain of a man is no more! Ruined, for what? Because of some new law? Because the Senate is scared of some change? Because people would rather go about Their minuscule routines and not look up! Will not look into the faces of us! Of those who are suffering and who die Whose bodies would fill this very Forum But for your cleaners and segregation! Would turn these streets into mausoleums But for your guards who rule with threat of harm! Would choke the Tiber herself with our blood But for your floods of dopamine and joy! No. Harold saw the faces of us all. With one look he could decide who you were And which of his off-color jokes to tell. He may have died but his work will never Be stopped or intimidated by fear! His face will always be remembered here!

Tiberius leaves.

CLAUDIUS Tiberius will now go and worship And sacrifice for his murdered friend.

POLLUX But what of the Pergamon treasure, sir?

CLAUDIUS We will discuss the will in the Senate.

Nasica appears.

NASICA Should you not discuss it with the people? This rabble that you claim to love so much? 94.

CLAUDIUS You are not welcome here Nasica.

LUCIUS The Pontifex Maximus has the right To preside over any and all deaths.

FLACCUS He can certainly try, and might even Get another corpse to mumble over.

NASICA Peace, my children, I come always in peace.

CLAUDIUS With one breath you claim that you come in peace While in the next you curse Tiberius Has not yet come into any danger.

NASICA Claudius I fear your taunts have no teeth Just like their feeble speaker who sprays them.

Tiberius returns.

TIBERIUS You! You have done this! Or your demons have!

NASICA The only demon I see is right here.

FLACCUS Peace Tiberius! Not here! Calm down man!

TIBERIUS His blood is on your hands Nasica! Yours!

NASICA Pray, and what blood have you spilled to lay claim On treasure gifted from King Attalus To the Roman senate and its members? 95.

TIBERIUS That money belongs to the Romans here! The people who elected me tribune That seek to overthrow you and your kind!

NASICA Dare I hear you mouth speak against Rome? Overthrow the Senate? Did you speak so? So then you could yourself our new king?

CLAUDIUS Lies from the lips of our head senator!

LUCIUS Speak ill of our high priest again, old man.

CLAUDIUS So you would murder a politician? Or do you just stick to beggars and whores?

Tiberius speaks from the rostra.

TIBERIUS Nasica accuses me of a crime! He says I want to make myself king! Do you people think that I want a crown? Do any believe that I do all this That I see my friend murdered before me Simply to wear a golden jeweled halo?

NASICA He has a crown in his house! In his house!

TIBERIUS And should I not bring it with me when I Return here tomorrow to run again As your tribune to stop Nasica’s plots?

NASICA Blasphemy! No man has been tribune twice! Death! He seeks to destroy our Republic!

TIBERIUS All those who follow me come to my house! Protect my family against the Senate And his gangsters who would kill us all! 96.

Tiberius leaves with Claudius, Flaccus, and his followers.

NASICA Gods! I would strangle that cur if I could! Watch his tongue flap until it no longer Could make my life any more difficult!

LUCIUS That could be arranged your excellency.

NASICA And you! You menacing idiot horse! Was that you at Octavius’ house? Never mind, I don’t really want to know. But you handed him a public platform And he won more support for his reforms! ‘Aw!’ ‘Boo-hoo!’ ‘Tiberius’ friend died!’ I should vote for him now out of pity Pity always wins elections Lucius! And he now has a good shot to win! So we are forced to resort to measures That I in my hardened heart cannot know Whether they will save or sink our nation.

LUCIUS What exactly did you have in mind, sir?

NASICA Well I’ll clearly have to do it myself! Seeing as last time you took care of things The collateral damage got us here!

LUCIUS Civilians die in war all the time.

NASICA Don’t lecture me about war you ogre! No war was ever won without it first Being waged with words in the halls of home!

LUCIUS My apologies master, for my sins. 97.

NASICA Get up you miserable sack of goat cheese! Sit down and shut up and listen to me! We must first be rid of this fool Flaccus, And you will have nothing to do with it. Aemilianus has Spain to himself So we must send him somewhere more remote.

LUCIUS Let me ship him to Siberia, sir.

NASICA Then he would have the polar bears on strike! Not to mention marching back here to Rome! No, somewhere that he won’t cause any problems...

LUCIUS What if we sent him to Massilia?

NASICA Send him off to France? Now there’s an idea... Yes. That could work! See him try and inspire The lazy and arrogant Gauls! Ha ha! I will arrange it with the generals. Let us see his bite without his bulldog.

LUCIUS What are your plans for the vote tomorrow?

NASICA He will be stopped whether through the Senate Or through my sharp and deadly love of Rome. Now piss off and gather your men. It begins. 98.

SCENE 5

The walled garden of the Gracchi family.

Noise and music from the camp of supporters outside can just be heard.

Tiberius is alone.

Flaccus and Claudius come rushing in.

FLACCUS Tiberius! Tiberius, my friend.

TIBERIUS Please do not speak of a new monstrous plot.

FLACCUS Only against me this time. I must leave.

TIBERIUS What are you saying my handsomest friend?

FLACCUS Whether through Nasica or fate unkind I am called tonight to protect the walls That separate us from barbarians. I am summoned off to Massilia.

TIBERIUS And they ask you to go this evening?

CLAUDIUS I used every power within my rights To plead with the two soldiers outside To let him come inside and say goodbye.

FLACCUS I am sorry Tiberius, but I- 99.

TIBERIUS I know. I know my friend. Then it is done. Go, knowing that you are forever loved And promise me that whatever occurs Whether tomorrow is a great triumph Or something else... You will look after Gauis.

FLACCUS Forever my friend, if you so wish it.

TIBERIUS I fear he may inherit my penchant For trouble. But with your hand he may learn.

FLACCUS I look forward to teaching him with you. Hail Rome. Hail Tiberius Gracchus, friend.

Flaccus leaves.

CLAUDIUS Nasica has called a meeting at nine.

TIBERIUS What do you think he is planning to do?

CLAUDIUS He is as dangerous as a hurt buck Backed into a gulch with no where to hide.

TIBERIUS And I suppose hunting season has passed?

CLAUDIUS I fear this time you speak in riddles, friend.

TIBERIUS Nasica targets my family and friends What stops me from returning his favor?

CLAUDIUS I thought that we had already agreed/ That you do not propose what I think you/ 100.

TIBERIUS /If he sets the rules of this power game /Then changes them when it looks like he’ll lose? Why must I be beat holding some guidebook With a strategy that never could win?

CLAUDIUS It is bad enough that you run again For a position no man has held twice!

TIBERIUS Can you name another man before me Who inherited a broken system And tried his hardest to straighten it out?

CLAUDIUS I can only show you stones in a field! Of Icarus imitators who fell Into the earth where we all will be laid!

TIBERIUS Save it old man, I need no reminder-

CLAUDIUS No you save it you arrogant bastard! I will not see my daughter broken apart! You may only have martyrdom to gain But she has everything to lose! You, fool! She will lose her husband because his pride Blinds him to what really matters most! That his family matters more then his life And families are what makes Rome so strong! So breaking up ours for some vague glory Or because you will not listen to sense Is worse then if you would murder the Fates!

TIBERIUS I know that you know that for Claudia I would wrestle great Hercules himself Or shoulder her burdens as does Atlas. If I ever caused her some sort of pain It would certainly pain my heart the most. So why don’t you go and bring her to me? And then we will know how she is feeling Whether we actually want to or not. 101.

And besides, my father abandoned us Do you think the Gracchi turned out so bad?

CLAUDIUS I will go and get her from the temple Though I fear she is as foolish as you.

Claudius leaves.

Cornelia appears holding a beautiful diadem and purple robe.

CORNELIA I wonder what my son has done this time To send a senator grumbling away Or if he naturally has that effect?

TIBERIUS Why do you bring this robe and diadem?

CORNELIA I wanted to see it in the moonlight Which was the last time I saw such a shine.

TIBERIUS You mean to tell me that those bedtime tales Of the King of Egypt himself coming And courting you, my mother, were all true?

CORNELIA I think I might have left a little out Namely how much of a man that king was...

TIBERIUS Which is fine, because some secrets are fine!

CORNELIA He wanted me to return to Egypt And offered me the world’s finest jewels He even promised a pet crocodile! But I chose to sacrifice my comfort And raise you three miscreants here in Rome Sometimes I wonder if I chose wisely. 102.

TIBERIUS I know Sempronia irritates you And Gauis can still be a loose cannon-

CORNELIA I was talking about you, my oldest.

TIBERIUS Do I somehow disappoint you mother?

CORNELIA I knew the military was no good For your independent intellect, and I knew that you would not be satisfied With some meagre posting in government. My son, your father’s son, the grandson of Scipio Africanus, Carthage’s scourge, Would settle for nothing less then total Radical, beautiful, stupid, change. My son.

She hands him the robe and crown.

Take this. Take this to the square tomorrow. Declare yourself their king. You are right to! They would not murder their elected king!

TIBERIUS No, Mom, I would never do such a thing!

CORNELIA Take it! Take it you stupid, stupid boy! They will kill you tomorrow if you don’t!

TIBERIUS Then I would rather die a democrat! A defender of the people’s power! This! This is the very thing that I hate! It is power, it is corruption, this! Wealth and success are the worst kind of plague! Infecting your mind until they control Every single waking and sleeping thought ‘How do I keep my power and riches?’ ‘What is the best way to protect my gains?’ 103.

‘Would I undermine all that I love? Just to get a little more then I need?’ You should be ashamed of yourself, Mother.

Sempronia enters.

SEMPRONIA I thought I heard raised voices. Excuse me.

TIBERIUS No sister, stay. Our Mother was talking. Tell her just what you would like me to do.

SEMPRONIA I can see that I am not welcome here.

TIBERIUS You will stay and witness how your Mother Wished me to declare myself your new king!

SEMPRONIA It would certainly make getting things done A lot less complicated my brother. That was a joke. I see now in poor taste.

TIBERIUS I cannot believe that my own family Is even having this conversation!

SEMPRONIA But how can you blame her you stupid bull? Did she say it was because you would die If you continue on with your blind course? How can you blame her for wanting to save Her dear son, instead of mourning a saint! I know the Gods themselves are so happy That one of us down here finally strives To emulate them in loving this world And they want nothing more then to bring him To live among them high up in the clouds! But Plato only lectured in ideals Not to mention he never was married And Xanthippe got a pretty raw deal 104.

When Socrates died and left her alone With nothing but children and the pieces Of her heart shattered against his logic! No. If losing you is what we must pay No land bill or justice could come within A chance of it being worth what we lose. If you go tomorrow Tiberius Do not claim that you do it for us. This will be a selfishness all your own. Come on mom. We should be getting to bed. And you. You have a big day tomorrow You could use some slumber yourself. Goodnight.

Sempronia and Cornelia leave.

Tiberius examines the objects.

TIBERIUS Already you’ve poisoned my family. What a world we would have if all these things Were melted and returned into the earth... For shiny does not mean superior And neither does dirty mean destiny I fear the only constant is conflict.

Claudia appears.

CLAUDIA My father told me that I must come here I was praying at the temple Vesta Praying that my husband would find success.

TIBERIUS Perhaps you should have been praying for peace To our great goddess of life and the hearth For you just missed a chorus of anger.

CLAUDIA Did they not like your latest wardrobe change? 105.

TIBERIUS I do not like even holding it now My mother tried to convince me this crown Would save my life if only I wore it.

CLAUDIA Then why not? Put it on. See what happens.

TIBERIUS Please do not make me argue more tonight. I would like to go and lie in my bed To spend some time with my wife all alone For it may be the last night we will have.

CLAUDIA My father told me I would find a man Who pacing was trying to understand How the choices we make eventually Choose for us, whether we like it or not Our choice of living and our choice of death.

TIBERIUS What would you have me do Claudia? Hm? If I go out tomorrow, run again They will kill me for trying to change Rome. If I go out tomorrow and renege They will kill me because I’ve lost my shield! Or if not Nasica then the people Because I lied and betrayed my promise, To build a Rome that would actually live Up to the ideals of our founding men! Which is why I cannot make myself king Whether or not it breaks my mother’s heart Because they would kill me for being king! Please help me pick between these fine options.

CLAUDIA One path leads you to selfish martyrdom The same leads you to selfless sacrifice. One earns you your family’s eternal love The same exiles you from their endless love One sets afire the city of Rome The same sentences it to a winter Where backlash would blow as fierce as the wind That shivers our legions in snowy Gaul. It is indeed a troubling problem. 106.

TIBERIUS Which is why I have not made up my mind Even though everyone thinks that I have! They think that history is pre-ordained That I do what I do because of fate Because I feel some inexorable pull When you know best that I stumble around Blindly hoping that what I feel is right While later the light may illuminate That I was in the wrong room the whole time.

CLAUDIA Do not despair so, my hero husband. Come to your wife and have peace for awhile. For touch is strong and a powerful balm And quiets the screeching wilds of the mind.

TIBERIUS I love you, Claudia Pulcher. So much.

CLAUDIA I love you Tiberius Gracchus, true.

TIBERIUS I am the most lucky that we survived That change from passion into love mature And count that as my greatest achievement.

CLAUDIA You did all the work to make this love live?

TIBERIUS I do most of the work, most of the time.

CLAUDIA And with who do you do most of this work?

TIBERIUS No one but some old lady you know.

CLAUDIA You keep pushing your luck, young man, keep on Talking about how you do all the work.

TIBERIUS This is everything sitting here with you. 107.

CLAUDIA And what if it was?

TIBERIUS I don’t understand.

CLAUDIA You say tomorrow there is no good choice What if there is no tomorrow for you? What if you and I ran away tonight?

TIBERIUS I know your serious face and your voice.

CLAUDIA Of course I’m serious you idiot What is stopping you from running away? Leaving this entire mess behind you? 108.

SCENE 6

The Senate the next morning.

NASICA Order! Order! The Senate now begins Men, this is an emergency meeting. Our great Republic faces a challenge None of us Republicans have yet seen! Even as we speak out in the Forum There grows a chorus of agitators Lowlifes who want nothing less then revolt! They mock private property, they shun wealth They seek to destroy what makes Rome prosper! Never mind the specifics of their cries! This is a battle for our very soul And their general makes Hannibal blush Tiberius Gracchus, scourge of our class! A man with no morals, tact, or respect For all the hard work we have put in To make ourselves rise above the rabble! And this boy would do anything to win! Even now he runs again for tribune As if to openly challenge the strength Of the way things always have been done As if to break apart the glue that bonds Our nation together against all odds! He may want to shake up the status quo But in revolution there is no way To know whether the bedrock you’re breaking Is needed to support a stable house Or if it only can support a throne!

CLAUDIUS This is ridiculous! There is no proof That Tiberius makes himself regent/

NASICA /Order! 109.

CLAUDIUS And there is no law against a tribune Running for office two years in a row/

NASICA /You are not recognized, sir!

A breathless herald appears.

HERALD A Sirs! I come from the house of the Gracchi!

NASICA Speak, friend, with your news.

CLAUDIUS You hire spies now? Wow.

HERALD A Well sir, thank you, I like to think I add-

NASICA Silent! What news, man!

HERALD A Though he’s spiciest. Sir, I followed Tiberius to camp Ate and drank, and drank, and well, with his friends You see, the whole time I was watching close. And we all go to bed and wake up today And boom! He’s gone, sir! Disappeared, vanished! But he didn’t fool me. I walked right up To this old lady I had been watching See I knew no one as ugly as her Could actually be who they said they were!

NASICA Did you find Tiberius in disguise?

HERALD A Well, it turns out it wasn’t a wig, but, But that old bag could give good as me!

NASICA Do you have any news of relevance? 110.

HERALD A I’m getting to that if you’d let me speak! I’m hiding from this lady in the house And in the bushes I see with my eyes A shiny crown, just lying on the ground! So of course I go over to see it You know, to return it to you, of course! But as I reach down to pick the thing up Two serpents reared up all tangled as one And there was two eggs sitting inside it! And if that ain’t news sir, or some sign!

CLAUDIUS This is the best that you’ve got Nasica?

NASICA Silence! What happened next, my friend?

HERALD A Well, sir, the lady, his sister, uhm, came She asked me what I was doing in there You see, I had made a bit of a scream I wasn’t expecting to see a snake! Or two, for the matter, conjugating.

NASICA What did Tiberius’ sister do?

HERALD A Well, she, uh, got the crown and robe and left.

NASICA And I ask you, friends, what does this woman Need with accessories made for a king?

CLAUDIUS Maybe she was bringing them to your house! This is ridiculous and some witch hunt!

A second herald appears, breathless.

HERALD B Sir! Sir! I have news for the Senate! Oh! Oh. I see that you have found another Has he told you of the eagle augur? 111.

HERALD A I saw two snake cavorting in a crown.

HERALD B How much did he say he’d pay for that?

HERALD A We haven’t actually discussed payment-

NASICA Silence! What news do you bring of our foe?

HERALD B Well sir, I camped overnight like you asked And drank and ate and drank with these rebels

HERALD A I already told them about the drinking.

HERALD B Well, at daybreak I awoke to a fuss This one was beating up an old lady And then when she started beating him back He went and scaled the garden walls in fright!

NASICA What news do you have of Tiberius?

HERALD B HERALD A I’m getting to that if you’d let me speak! He’s getting to that if you’d let him speak!

HERALD B Then he starts screaming like a little girl And as he jumps back over the stone wall Who appears but Tiberius himself! And right at that moment with my own eyes I saw an eagle flying above him Drop two hares at Tiberius’ feet

CLAUDIUS Gods, please tell me that this is some joke, please? This is a low point even for you, man!

A third herald arrives, breathless. 112.

HERALD C Senate! Sir! I have news! Oh. Hello chaps.

NASICA If you bring no news of Tiberius This Senate does not wish to hear your tale.

HERALD C But I’ve seen auspicious things sir!

HERALD A He’s heard about the snakes in the garden.

HERALD B And about the eagles dropping the hares.

HERALD C Has he heard about our hourly rate?

NASICA Tell this Senate what you have seen, herald!

HERALDS He/I would if you’d just let him/me speak!

HERALD C After the ruckus created by them Tiberius did walk through his front door And after these two ran off to here He walked back out holding in his hands That crown along with that purple robe thing! But while walking he stubbed his toe badly At the threshold of his fancy mansion!

CLAUDIUS Coincidences do not make a crime! Though spying on tribunes surely must be!

NASICA Silence! The senator cannot speak here! Unless he wants to end up like his friend!

Shouts from outside. 113.

CLAUDIUS Our speaker has lost all sense of reason! And I motion to strip him of the right-

Shouts and cheers.

Lucius enters breathless.

LUCIUS King! King! He makes himself king! Senators! Tiberius comes to the Forum now! He holds in his hands the royal garments And touches his head to the crowd to show Where the crown must be placed on his skull! Sirs! I have seen it with my own eyes, my Lord.

NASICA And what further proof do you need of this? Of this evil plot to give Rome a king? We must do something to defend our laws! To re-install order as our sovereign!

CLAUDIUS I object! The speaker foments violence Against a tribune who is protected! By the same tradition that he defends!

NASICA Would Claudius wish to bend on his knees? To a man who would rule absolutely?

CLAUDIUS Would Nasica wish to destroy it all Just to protect his inherited wealth?

NASICA This is about protecting our nation! A nation founded by people like me! They may have written about some freedoms That they never intended to pass down! Nowhere has there been any new progress That the people did not have to fight for! 114.

So I will not stand here and let them Win what they don’t deserve without a fight!

CLAUDIUS No-

NASICA I would rather be killed and hated Then see more of our earnings be stolen And given to people who did nothing But happen to be born in the wrong place! No, Claudius, you and Tiberius You will never be able to change me. I will always be there in the background I will always work to undo your schemes! I will always be there at your downfall! Now Senators, I need your courage!

CLAUDIUS Wait!

NASICA I need the men that you promised to me We must make weapons with what we can find And defeat the greatest threat ever faced!

CLAUDIUS I object! The Pontifex Maximus-

Nasica raised his priestly hood.

NASICA Let everyone who would defend the laws Follow me!

CLAUDIUS I object! This is madness!

Nasica and Lucius and company leave.

We are outside in the Forum.

TIBERIUS And that is why I have humbly brought it: This extravagant cloak from Pergamum And this, this bejeweled gold diadem- 115.

Nasica appears leading his mob.

NASICA Death to all those who would make themself king!

Anarchy.

Blood is spilled.

Absolute slaughter.

Tiberius fights and gets a few of Nasica’s men, but they eventually overwhelm him.

He is beaten mercilessly.

SEMPRONIA You will kill him!

THUG 1 Girls do not belong here.

He punches her and leaves.

Sempronia stands up to fight back, but another hooded figure stops her.

CORNELIA I will not lose two children in one day!

SEMPRONIA Let me go! They’re killing him!

CORNELIA He is dead! And they will kill us if we linger more!

They leave.

Tiberius is on the edge of death.

NASICA Any last words, you scourge of the Romans?

Tiberius weakly whispers something in Nasica’s ear and laughs. 116.

Nasica stabs Tiberius.

NASICA Order! Order is restored! My people!

The bodies and smoldering ruins do not answer back.

LUCIUS Sir, we should not loiter here anymore.

NASICA Did you hear them say I never knew war? That I would never taste any foe’s blood?

He rubs Tiberius’ blood all over himself.

Let us see your land reform bill pass now!

He stabs a fleeing passerby.

There must be a cleansing now that we won! I want all his supporters killed by dusk All their corpses dumped into the Tiber!

LUCIUS Your wish is my mission, your holiness. What shall we do with Tiberius?

NASICA Let him be among the people he loved! Let him float down the Tiber as he wished! Adrift on his sea of perfect ideals! Let the fish bring him nibbles of justice And distribute himself amongst the sharks! He will never lay in the land he gave To those who never deserved it! Let him sink down in his sea of ideals!

Nasica and Lucius leave.

We are left with the carnage a moment.

Suddenly a mournful wail is heard.

Three MOURNERS appear. 117.

MOURNER 1 We are mourners looking to make the dead

MOURNER 2 More comfortable then when they were alive.

MOURNER 3 And appease the Gods’ anger at this scene.

A mournful wail is heard.

They prepare the bodies.

MOURNER 1 Go now, find rest, you pious pilgrim, sleep.

MOURNER 2 Her soul is precious, for her I will weep.

MOURNER 3 We’ll never know why, the secrets you keep.

MOURNER 1 My heart! My soul! My optimism breaks!

MOURNER 2 My friend, your hands tremble? Why do they shake?

MOURNER 3 Tiberius Gracchus causes this ache! Here lies his body, beaten and run through!

MOURNER 2 I wish what I see was somehow not true!

MOURNER 1 Who was the culprit? Who did this deed? Who?

MOURNER 2 Slaughtered like some ceremonial ewe! And we sat by and watched e’en though we knew!

MOURNER 3 But others did nothing! They sat by! You! They all sat by watching as corpses grew! 118.

MOURNER 1 They sat enjoying, happy in their pews And will quick forget in the bathroom queue.

MOURNER 2 Or maybe will remember when

MOURNER 3 Nasica burned down everything to win

MOURNER 1 That Tiberius did because his sin

MOURNER 2 Was fighting for change by hook or by claw!

MOURNER 1 Was trying to distribute land by law!

MOURNER 3 I am conflicted on his fatal flaw.

MOURNER 1 Have you not watched the same play here tonight?

MOURNER 2 Have you not witnessed the triumph of might? The contest is over, he lost the fight!

MOURNER 3 But what makes him different then any here? What makes you all think you see him so clear? That there is a point! That there is a spear?

Suddenly she is taken away.

MOURNER 2 Wait! Wait! We are just here to mourn!

MOURNER 1 I fear our social fabric has been torn And it will be darkness long before morn.

MOURNER 2 What is the point of this death and debris? 119.

MOURNER 1 All because Gracchus the man who would be A king if that meant the people were free.

MOURNER 2 But his reforms will survive! They will live on! And his ideas guide us after he’s gone! He dies in darkness so we can see dawn!

He is also taken away.

MOURNER 1 Wait! Wait! He misspoke! He did not mean it! But my words are nothing, simply spit. And I suppose that I too will soon quit. The house of Gracchi will make a stand And you certainly made one, I’ll be damned. Though it never really works out as planned. I mourn for you, Tiberius, hero. E’en though you lead us someday to Nero And your impact in the long run is zero. If nothing else, you live on as a myth You will inspire your kin and my kith. The strength of a movement is in its width And though you did falter, holding that crown Your sea of ideals would defeat and drown Any revolution that is top-down! So lie you there and may you rest in peace! Become a symbol for the world, for Greece! Know that your death means that we will not cease!

He is taken away.

THE END