Appius Claudius Pulcher (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: APP•CLAVDIVS•C•F•APP•N•PVLCHER) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

politician of the 2nd century BC.

Life

Son of Gaius Claudius Pulcher (who was

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 throu ...

in 177 BC), he was elected consul for 143 BC, and, to obtain a pretext for a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

, attacked the Salassi, an Alpine tribe. He was at first defeated, but afterwards, following the directions of the

Sibylline Books The ''Sibylline Books'' ( la, Libri Sibyllini) were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, that, according to tradition, were purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and were consulted at ...

, gained a victory. On his return the celebration of the triumph was refused; but he held a triumph at his own expense, and when one of the

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

s attempted to drag him from his car, his daughter Claudia, one of the

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

s, walked by his side up to the capital. Next year he was an unsuccessful candidate for the censorship, though he afterwards held that office with

Quintus Fulvius Nobilior Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was a Roman consul who obtained the consulship in 153 BC. His father Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and his brother Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 159 BC) were also consuls. Nobilior and his father were patrons of the writer Q ...

, probably in 136 BC.Plutarch, ''Tiberius Gracchus'', 4. He allied with

Tiberius Gracchus Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus ( 163 – 133 BC) was a Roman politician best known for his agrarian reform law entailing the transfer of land from the Roman state and wealthy landowners to poorer citizens. He had also served in the Roma ...

who married his daughter Claudia. Appius backed Tiberius' land reform bill and in 133 BC with Tiberius and Tiberius' brother,

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician in the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish ...

, was chosen commissioner for the division of the lands. Their post allowed them to survey the ''ager publicus'', publicly owned land that Tiberius wanted to distribute to citizens who had lost their property. Another faction in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

opposed them and Tiberius was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

in 133 BC. Appius was the enemy of

Scipio Aemilianus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185–129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and during the ...

. He died shortly after Tiberius Gracchus, probably in 130 BC. He was one of the Salii, an

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...

, and

princeps senatus The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus'') was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no '' imperium'', this office conferred prestige on ...

. CiceroCicero, ''Brutus'' or ''History of famous orators'', 28. says that his style of speaking was fluent and vehement. He married Antistia. His great-granddaughter was

Clodia Clodius is an alternate form of the Roman '' nomen'' Claudius, a patrician ''gens'' that was traditionally regarded as Sabine in origin. The alternation of ''o'' and ''au'' is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form is Clodia. Re ...

Family tree

Notes

References

''This entry incorporates public domain text originally from:'' * William Smith (ed.), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870. {{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Pulcher, Appius consul 611 AUC 2nd-century births 130s BC deaths 2nd-century BC Roman augurs 2nd-century BC Roman consuls 2nd-century BC Roman praetors Roman censors Appius consul 611 AUC Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain