Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 125 BC)
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Marcus Fulvius Flaccus was a Roman senator and an ally of the Gracchi. He became an administrator of the agrarian reform in 130 BC, and as a solution to the problem of land division among the allied cities, proposed Roman citizenship for the allies' citizens, thus introducing a question that vexed Roman politics for many years. Elected consul in 125 BC, he was ordered by the Roman Senate to assist Massilia (modern Marseille) against depredations of the Salluvii. He became the first to overcome the transalpine Ligurians in war1 and returned in 123 BC with a triumph.
Flaccus was appointed to the Agrarian Commission in 129 BC.2 In 122 BC he became a tribune to assist Gaius Gracchus in implementing an amended version of his policy of citizenship for Italians, making him the only ex-consul to hold the position of tribune.3
He went to found a Roman colony, Colonia Junonia, on the ruins of Carthage. When he and Gracchus failed to win re-election in 121 BC, Flaccus led a mass protest on the Aventine Hill, but the consul Lucius Opimius suppressed it brutally, killing Gracchus and Flaccus among many others.
Plutarch describes him as a born agitator.4 Cicero describes Flaccus as an orator of moderate gifts and comments that his writings reveal him as a student of letters rather than an orator.5
He wife is unknown. Flaccus had a son called Marcus Fulvius Flaccus Bambalio. Bambalio married Sempronia Gracchae, the daughter of Roman Tribune Gaius Gracchus. Their marriage resulted in a daughter and only child Fulvia Flacca Bambula, who was Flaccus' only grandchild.
| Preceded by: Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Aurelius Orestes |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Marcus Plautius Hypsaeus 125 BC |
Succeeded by: Gaius Cassius Longinus and Gaius Sextius Calvinus |
