Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (died 349 BC) was a Roman politician and general. According to the historian

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, 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 traditiona ...

, he delivered a speech to the senate in 368 BC unsuccessfully opposing the proposal to open the executive office of

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 throug ...

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

. In 362, after the plebeian consul of that year had been killed in battle, Claudius was nominated

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

and campaigned against the

Hernici The Hernici were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake and the Sacco River (''Trerus''), bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. For many years of the earl ...

, obtaining some successes but with heavy losses of his own. He died shortly after taking office as consul in 349. Claudius Crassus was probably the father of Gaius Claudius Inregillensis, dictator in 337 BC, and thus grandfather of the censor

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. The first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty, Caecus was responsible for the building of Rome's first road (t ...

Scholarship

Most of the historical events ascribed to his life have been questioned. Oakley rejects the historicity of Claudius's speech in 368 BC, asserting that neither Livy nor his sources would have had any authentic evidence of it, and he also notes that the Claudian family's opposition to the rights of plebeians is a recurring stereotype in Roman tradition. Oakley also found Claudius's dictatorship in 362 dubious, but Ferenczy accepted both the office and the campaign against the Hernici as historical. Some authors have also questioned the authenticity of the consulship in 349. The historian Livy identifies Claudius, the consul in 349 BC, with

Appius Claudius Crassus Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (or Crassinus Regillensis) Sabinus ( 471–451 BC) was a Roman senator during the early Republic, most notable as the leading member of the ten-man board (the Decemvirate) which drew up the Twelve Tables of ...

, consular tribune in 403 BC. Wiseman finds such a career length unlikely, and Münzer suggested that the literary tradition has confused two different two Appii Claudii. According to the ''

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 ...

'', a list of magistrates compiled during the time of Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, both the tribune and the consul were sons of Publius and grandsons of Appius, but only the consul is given the surname 'Inregillensis'.

Endnotes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Crassus Inregillensis, Appius 349 BC deaths 4th-century BC Roman consuls Crassus Inregillensis, Appius Ancient Roman dictators Ancient Roman generals Roman patricians