Gaius Gracchus, with such devotion that although he was, by common consent, the most gifted young man of his generation in Rome, his education was generally held to have played a more important part than nature in forming his excellent qualities… At first, Gaius withdrew from public life and lived the quiet life of an ordinary citizen... He gave so clear an impression of a man who was not only concerned with humble matters for the time being, but would also continue to live that kind of non-political life in the future, that the suggestion even arose in some quarters that he was expressing disapproval of and hostility towards Tiberius’ political ideals. Besides, he was only in his twenties, nine years younger than his brother, who had died before reaching 30. But as time went on he gradually revealed his characters and showed that a life of feeble inactivity, filled with parties and commerce, was quite alien to him. In fact, by developing writing and rhetorical skills and making them the wings that would bear him into public life, his qualities made it clear that he was not going to remain idle. He conversed easily with the crowds, and had the ability to preserve his dignity while displaying in ways adjusted to suit each individual. He made it clear, then, to everyone he met that to describe him as a threat, or a thorough manipulator, or a man of violence, was just cruel slander…