“Gaius Gracchus is esteemed as a strong and enthusiastic orator. No one denies this. But how is it possible to tolerate the opinion of some, that he is more serious, more pointed, and more effective than Marcus Tullius Cicero?”
Fortis ac vehemens orator existimatur esse C. Gracchus. Nemo id negat. Sed quod nonnullis videtur severior, acrior ampliorque esse M. Tullio, ferri id qui potest?
We have often contemplated M. T. Cicero. Is it any wonder that his legacy and importance were already subject of debate in antiquity? Gaius Gracchus was a populist rabble-rouser while Cicero was far more of a Republican traditionalist. There’s no surprise that some might prefer one to the other!
The full text.
Well, both of them came to brutally violent ends, so we can assume that each one had his fair share of detractors, at any rate!
I find Tiberius Gracchus the more compassionate; Cicero, the most effective.
The difference between them is that T. Gracchus was murdered by a Republic, M. Cicero by an emerging Empire.