CARBO, GAIUS PAPIRIUS

died 119 BC Roman politician who supported the agrarian reforms of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus but later deserted the Gracchan party. As tribune in 131, Carbo carried a measure that extended voting by ballot to the enactment and repeal of laws. A year later he became a member of the Gracchan land commission but in 122 left the Gracchans to join their opponents, the Optimates (conservative senatorial aristocracy). His new allies rewarded him with the consulship in 120. Although he successfully defended Lucius Opimius, murderer of the reformer Gaius Gracchus, Carbo was nevertheless mistrusted by the Optimates. He committed suicide after being impeached on a charge of treason or extortion.