Agrarian legislation in the immediate aftermath of the Gracchi is the subject of continuing debate. Appian (BC i 27) records three laws, the last two of which are specified as being tribunician: the first removed the inalienability of land holdings; the second was perhaps the measure of Sp. Thorius, mentioned also by Cicero, which stopped land distribution, confirmed possession rights on the land and imposed a rent, the proceeds of which were to help the poor; the third abolished this rent. Appian provides chronological clues of a sort: the first measure came ‘not long after’ the death of C. Gracchus, the third ‘not long after’ Thorius’ law, and the whole business was perhaps finished within fifteen years άπò τῆς Γράκχου νομοϑεσίας. I say ‘perhaps’ because it remains arguable whether the point of reference for these fifteen years is Tiberius or Gaius Gracchus. I intend to argue elsewhere that Tiberius is meant, but as such an argument cannot be regarded as conclusive, there is still a point in this respect in examining the lex agraria which is the inscription CIL i2 585. The law is naturally important in its own right. It is dated internally to 111 B.C. and attempts have been made to equate it with either the second or third of Appian’s laws. If it was the second, this allows a retention of the fifteen years and the placing of the third law in 109 or 108. But if Appian has accurately reported the second law, it imposed a rent, while the first part of the inscriptional law talks of removing rent.