Appius Claudius Russus was

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

in 268 BC. He triumphed over the

Picentes The Picentes or Piceni or Picentini were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived from the 9th to the 3rd century BC in the area between the Foglia and Aterno rivers, bordered to the west by the Apennines and to the east by the Adriatic ...

, but died in office.

Family

Claudius was a member of the patrician gens Claudia. His father was the famed Roman politician

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. He is best known for two major building projects: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, and the first Roman aqueduct, aqueduc ...

, who had been twice

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

, censor, and

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

. An uncle,

Appius Claudius Caudex Appius Claudius Caudex ( 264 BC) was a Roman politician. He was the younger brother of Appius Claudius Caecus, and served as consul in 264 BC. In that year, he drew Rome into conflict with Carthage over possession of Sicily. In 265 BC, ...

, was consul in 264, and his brothers included Publius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 249, and Gaius Claudius Centho, consul in 240, and subsequently censor and dictator, like his father.

Career

Claudius held the consulship in 268 BC with Publius Sempronius Sophus as his colleague.''

Fasti Capitolini The ''Fasti Capitolini'', or Capitoline Fasti, are a list of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, extending from the early fifth century BC down to the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Together with similar lists found at Rom ...

''.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 199, 200 (and note 1). They defeated the rebellion of the

, which had started the previous year, and celebrated

triumphs ''Triumphs'' ( Italian: ''I Trionfi'') is a 14th-century Italian series of poems, written by Petrarch in the Tuscan language. The poem evokes the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were led in procession by the ...

.Eutropius, ii. 16. They also founded the colonies of Ariminum and Beneventum.Livy, ''Perochiae'', xv. Claudius died before leaving office, although none of the Roman historians mention the circumstances.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

mentions a Claudius Russus who set up a statue of himself wearing a diadem at

Forum Appii The Forum Appii (or Appii Forum) is an ancient statio (Roman), post station on the Appian Way, Via Appia, 63.5 km (39.5 imperial miles; 43 Roman miles) southeast of Rome, founded, no doubt, by the original constructor of the road. Horace mentio ...

, stating that he tried to claim possession of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

by means of his '' clientelae''.Suetonius, "The Life of Tiberius", 2. His identification with Appius Claudius Russus, the consul of 268 BC, is not certain, but is consistent with the order in which Suetonius lists the various ancestors of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

. Broughton suggests that Suetonius may have been hinting at something sinister related to Claudius' death in his year of office.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

), ''

History of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced m ...

''. *

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; ) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the period from the death o ...

, ''Roman History''. * Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''

De Vita Caesarum ''De vita Caesarum'' (Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'' or ''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire writte ...

'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). * Lucius Annaeus Florus, ''Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC'' (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years). * Eutropius, ''Breviarium Historiae Romanae'' (Abridgement of the History of Rome). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952–1986). {{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Russus, Appius 3rd-century BC Roman consuls 3rd-century BC Roman generals Russus, Appius Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown