Claudius Appius

Claudius, Appius. Caecus, a statesman who effected some remarkable changes in the Roman constitution. Elected censor in 312 B.C. he retained office against the law for five years. He broke through caste privileges of the patricians by openly causing to be published the legis actiones and the dies fasti, thus putting the forms of procedure within reach of all. He distributed the libertini among the tribes, and raised Caius Flavius, a freedman, to the senate. He originated the Appian Way and the Appian Aqueduct, the first public works stamped with the name of their author. Though victorious in Samnium as consul in 296 B.C., he had no military reputation. He was, however, a keen patriot, and stirred his countrymen to reject the overtures for peace made by Pyrrhus through Cineas. He was the earliest of Roman writers. A few works of his poetical fragments still exist, but his Sententiae have altogether vanished.