Livius Drusus was a powerful politician who tried to pass bold new laws, similar to what the Gracchus brothers had attempted. He found himself surrounded by huge crowds from all over Italy, all demanding action. But he was trapped. He couldn't handle the situation the way he wanted to, yet he couldn't just walk away after getting so deeply involved. In his frustration, he complained bitterly about his life. From birth, he said, he had never known peace. He claimed he was the only person who never got to have a real childhood — even as a boy, he never had a single day off.
When Livius Drusus, a vigorous and energetic man, brought forward bills for new laws and radical measures of the Gracchus pattern, being the centre of a vast mob of all the peoples of Italy, and seeing no way to solve the question, since he was not allowed to deal with it as he wished, and yet was not free to throw it up after having once taken part in it, complained bitterly of his life, which had been one of unrest from the very cradle, and said, we are told, that "he was the only person who had never had any holidays even when he was a boy."