SCAEVOLA, PUBLIUS MUCIUS

died c. 115 BC one of the foremost Roman jurists of his time and a prominent figure in the events surrounding the downfall of Tiberius Gracchus. The son of Publius Mucius Scaevola, consul in 175 BC, Mucius held the office of people's tribune in 141. He was praetor in 136. When Tiberius Gracchus, as tribune, was formulating his laws for agrarian reform, he is reported to have consulted Mucius. In 133, Scaevola was consul with Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Tiberius announced for an unprecedented second term as tribune. Scipio Nasica, as pontifex maximus, demanded that Scaevola condemn Tiberius as a tyrant. Scaevola refused, saying he would not be the one to resort to violence or jeopardize Tiberius' rights without a trial. When Tiberius was murdered, Scaevola did not publicly condemn those responsible and thus escaped the bloody proscription that followed. He did, however, subsequently lead the political opposition to the oligarchic party of Scipio, which had triumphed. Scaevola was one of the founders of the Jus civile (Civil Law) and the author of legal works, none of which has survived.