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 Abt 340 B.C. - 273 B.C.
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| Name |
Appius Claudius Caecus |
| Birth |
Abt 340 B.C. |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
273 B.C. |
| Notes |
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appius_Claudius_Caecus
«b»Appius Claudius Caecus«/b» ("the blind"; ca. «u»340 BC «/u»-«u»273 BC «/u») was a «u»Roman «/u» politician from a wealthy «u»patrician «/u» family. He was «u»dictator «/u» himself and the son of Gaius Claudius Crassus, dictator in «u»337 BC «/u».
«b»Life
«/b»He was a «u»censor «/u» in «u»312 BC «/u» although he had not previously been consul. He sought support from the lower classes, allowing sons of freed slaves to serve in the «u»Senate «/u», and extending voting privileges to men in the rural tribes who did not own land. During the «u»Second Samnite War «/u», he advocated the founding of Roman colonies throughout «u»Latium «/u» and «u»Campania «/u» to serve as fortifications against the «u»Samnites «/u» and «u»Etruscans «/u».
During his term as «u»censor «/u», he built the «u»Appian Way «/u» («u»Latin «/u»: «i»Via Appia«/i»), an important and famous road between «u»Rome «/u» and «u»Capua «/u», as well as the first «u»aqueduct «/u» in «u»Rome «/u», the «u»Aqua Appia «/u». He also published for the first time a list of legal procedures and the legal calendar, knowledge of which, until that time, had been reserved for the «i»pontifices«/i», the priests. He was also concerned with «u»literature «/u» and «u»rhetoric «/u», and instituted reforms in Latin «u»orthography «/u».
He later served as «u»consul «/u» twice, in «u»307 BC «/u» and «u»296 BC «/u», and in «u»292 BC «/u» and «u»285 BC «/u» he was appointed «u»Dictator «/u». In «u»280 BC «/u», after he had gone blind (because of a curse, according to «u»Livy «/u»), he gave a famous speech against Cineas, an envoy of «u»Pyrrhus of Epirus «/u», declaring that Rome would never surrender. This is the first recorded political speech in Latin, and is the source of the saying "every man is the architect of his own fortune" (Latin: «i»quisque faber suae fortunae«/i»).
«b»Descendants
«/b»His sons included «u»Gaius Claudius «/u» (father of the consul «u»Appius Claudius Caudex «/u») and the first Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Appius Claudius Caecus is used in «u»Cicero «/u»'s «u»«i»Pro Caelio «/u»«/i» as a stern and disapproving ancestor to «u»Clodia «/u». Cicero assumes the voice of Caecus in a scathing «u»«i»prosopopoeia «/u»«/i», where Caecus is incensed at Clodia for associating with Caelius, a member of the middle equestrian class instead of the upper patrician class. Caecus's achievements, such as the building of the Appian Way and the Aqua Appia, are mentioned as being defiled by Clodia's actions.
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| Person ID |
I61265 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
19 Jun 2013 |
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