Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/786

Rh 763 CLA QDIUS. even the sons of freedraen. His list, however, was set aside the following year, upon which C. Plau- tius resigned, and Appius continued in office as sole censor. He then proceeded to draw up the lists of the tribes, and enrolled in them all the libertini, whom he distributed among all the tribes, that his influence might predominate in all. (Liv. ix. 29, 30, 33, 34, 46 ; Suet. Ciaud. 24.) According to Pliny {H.N. xxxiii. 6) it was at his instigation that his secretary, Cn. Flavius, published his calendar and account of the /eyis aciiones. But the most durable monuments of his censorship (for his political innovations were in good part set aside by Q. Fabius Maximus) were the Appian road to Capua, which was commenced by him, and the Appian aqueduct, which he completed. (Liv. ix. 29 ; Frontin. de Aqiuied. 5 ; Niebuhr, vol. iii. pp. 303 — 309.) Niebuhr conjectures, with some probability, that in order to raise money he must have sold large portions of the public land. He retained his censorship four years. (Niebuhr, vol. iii. pp. 294 — 313.) In 307 he was elected consul after resigning his censorship, which he had ineffectually endeavoured to retain, and remained in Rome for the purpose of strengthening his in- terest. (Liv. ix. 42.) In the following year we find him a strenuous opponent of the Ogulnian law for opening the offices of pontiff and augur to the plebeians, (x. 7, 8.) In 298 he was ap- pointed interrex (an office which he filled three times; see inscription in Pighius, ad ann. 561), and at first refused to receive votes for the plebeian candidate. (Liv. x. 11 ; Cic. Brut. 14.) In 296 he was chosen consul a second time, and command- ed at first in Saranium with some success. (Liv. X. 17 ; Orelli, Inscr. No. 539.) From Saranium he led his forces into Etruria, and having been de- livered from a perilous position by his colleague Volumnius, the combined armies gained a decisive victory over the Etruscans and Samnites. (Liv. X. 18, 19.) In this battle he vowed a temple to Bellona, which he afterwards dedicated- Next year he was continued in command, as praetor, but was sent back to Rome by the consul Fabius. (x. 22, 25.) Afterwards, in conjunction with Volumnius, he gained a victory over the Sam- nites. (x. 31.) He was once dictator, but in what year is not known. (Insc. in Orelli, /. c.) In his old age, when Cineas was sent by Pyrrhus to propose peace, Appius, now quite blind, ap- peared in the senate, and by his speech prevailed on them to resist the proffered tenns. This speech was extant in Cicero's time. (Liv. xiii. ; Cic. Brut. 14, 16, De Senect. 6.) His eloquence is extolled by Livy. (x. 19.) Appius Claudius the Blind was the earliest Ro- man writer in prose and verse whose name has come down to us. He was the author of a poem known to Cicero through the Greek (Cic. Tmc. Disp. iv. 2), of which some minute fragments have come down to us. (Priscian. viii. p. 792, ed. Putsch ; Festus, s. v. Stuprum.) Its contents were of a Pythagorean cast. He also wrote a legal treatise, De Usurpationibus, and according to some was the author of the Aciiojies which Flavius published. [Flavius.] (Pomponius, Dig. i. 2. § 36.) He left four sons and five daughters. (Cic. de Senect. 11.) 11. App. Claudius C. f. App. n. Caudex, also son of No. 9. He derived his surname from his attention to naval affairs. CSenec. de Brev. Viiae, CLAUDIUS. 1 3.) He was elected consul B. c. 264, and cora- naanded the forces sent to the assistance of the Mamertini. He effected a landing on the coast of Sicily by night, defeated Hiero and the Carthagi- nians, and raised the siege of Messana. After a repulse from Egesta, and some other unsuccessful operations, he left a garrison in Messana and re- turned home. (Polyb. i. 11, 12, 16 ; Suet. Tib. 2.) 12. App. Claudius App. f. C. n. Crassus (or Crassinus) Rufus, the eldest son of No. 10, and apparently the last of the gens who bore the surname Crassus. He was consul b. c. 268. (Fast. Sic; Veil. Pat. i. 14.) 13. P. Claudius App. f. C. n. Pulcher, the first of this gens who bore that surname, wai the second son of No. 10. Pie possessed in a more than ordinary degree most of the worst characteris- tics of this family. He was elected consul in B. c. 249, and commanded the fleet sent to reinforce the troops at Lilybaeum. In defiance of the auguries, he attacked the Carthaginian fleet lying in the har- bour of Drepana, but was entirely defeated, with the loss of almost all his forces. (Polyb. i. 49, &c. ; Cic. De Divin. i. 16, ii. 8, 33 ; Schol. Bob. in Cic. p. 337, ed. Orell.; Liv. xix. ; Suet. Tib. 2.) Claudius was recalled and commanded to appoint a dictator. He named M. Claudius Glycias or Glicia, the son of a freedman. but the nomination was immediately superseded. ( Suet. Tib. 2 ; Fasti Capit.) P. Claudius was accused of high treason, and, according to Poly bins (i. 52) and Cicero {de Nat. Deor. ii. 3), was severely punished. Accord- ing to other accounts (Schol. Bob. /. c ; Val. Max. viii. 1. § 4), a thunder-storm which happened stopped the proceedings ; but he was impeached a second time and fined. He did not long survive his disgrace. He was dead before B. c. 246. [Claudia, No. 1.] The probability is that he killed himself. (Val. Max. L 4. g 3.) 14. C. Claudius App. f. C. n. Centho or Cento, another son of No. 10, was consul in b. c. 240, interrex in 217, and dictator in 213. (Fasti Cap. ; Cic. Tu8C» Disp. i. 1, Brut. 18 ; Liv. xxii. 34, XXV. 2.) 15. Tib. Claudius Nero, fourth son of No. 10. Nothing further is known respecting him. (Suet. Tib. 3 ; Gell. xiii. 22.) An account of his descendants is given under Nero. 16. Claudiae Quinque. [Claudia, No. 1.] 17. App. Claudius P. f. App. n. Pulcher, son of No. 13, was aedile in B. c. 217. (Liv. xxii. 53.) In the following year he was military tri- bune, and fought at Cannae. Together with P. Scipio he was raised to the supreme command by the troops who had fled to Canusium. In 215 he was created praetor, and conducted the relics of the defeated army into Sicily, where his efforts to detach Hieronymus, the grandson of Hiero, from his connexion with the Carthaginians, were un- successful. (Liv. xxiii. 24, 30, 31, xxiv. 6, 7.) He remained in Sicily the following year also, as propraetor and legatus to M. Marcellus. (xxiv. 10, 21, 27, 29, 30, 33, 36 ; Polyb. viii. 3, 5, 9), hav- ing charge of the fleet and the camp at Leontini. (Liv. xxiv. 39.) In 212 he was elected consul, and in conjunction with his colleague Q. Fulvius Flaccus laid siege to Capua. At the close of his year of office, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, he went to Rome and created two new consuls. His own command was prolonged another year. In the battle with Hannibal before Capua