Clau'dius
38. App.
Claudius Pulcher, eldest son of No. 35 (Varr.
R. R. 3.16), appears in B. C. 75 as the prosecutor of Terentius Varro. (Ascon.
ad Cic. Div. in Caecil. p. 109, Orell.) In 70 he served in Asia under his brother-in-law, Lucullus, and was sent to Tigranes to demand the surrender of Mithridates. (
Plut. Luc. 19,
21.) In 61 he was in Greece, collecting statues and paintings to adorn the games which he contemplated giving as aedile. (Cic.
pro Dom. 43; Schol. Bob.
in orat. in Clod. et Cur. p. 338, Oreil.) Through the favour and influence of the consul L. Piso, however, he was made praetor without first filling the office of aedile. (Cic.
l.c.) As praetor (B. C. 57) he presided in trials for extortion, and Cicero expresses anxiety on behalf of his brother Quintus, who had been propraetor in Asia. (
Ad Att. 3.17.) Though Appius did not openly and in person oppose Cicero's recall (
Cic. Fam. 3.10.8; comp.
pro Dom. 33), he tacitly sanctioned and abetted the proceedings of his brother Publius.
He placed at his disposal the gladiators whom he had hired, and alone of the praetors did nothing on behalf of Cicero; and, after the return of the latter, shewed more decidedly which side he took. (Cic.
pro Sext. 36, 39-41,
in Pison. 15,
pro Mil. 15,
post. Red. in Sen. 9,
ad Att. 4.1-3; Schol. Bob. p. 307, Orell.;
D. C. 39.6,
7.) Next year he was propraetor in Sardinia, and in April paid a visit to Caesar at Luca. (
Plut. Caes. 21; Cic.
ad Q. F. 2.6, 15.) In B. C. 54 he was chosen consul with L. Domitius Ahenobarbus. (
Caes. Gal. 5.1;
D. C. 39.60,
40.1.) Through the intervention of Pompey, a reconciliation was brought about between him and Cicero, though his attentions to the latter appear, in part at least, to have been prompted by avarice. (Cic.
ad Q. F. 2.12,
ad Fam. 1.9, 3.10.) When Gabinius returned from his province, Appius appeared as his accuser, in hopes that his silence might be bought, though previously he had said he would do all that lay in his power to prevent the threatened prosecution. (Cic.
ad Q. Fr. 2.12, 13, 3.2;
D. C. 39.60.) Similar motives appear to have induced him to support C. Pomptinus in his claim for a triumph. (
Cic. Att. 4.16,
ad Q. F. 3.4.)
A still more glaring instance of his dishonesty and venality was the compact which he and his colleague entered into with Cn. Domitius Calvinus and C. Memmius, two of the candidates for the consulship, by which the two latter bound themselves in the sum of 4,000,000 sesterces a-piece, in case they should be appointed consuls, to bring forward false witnesses to prove that laws had been passed assigning to Appius and his colleague the command of an army, and settling in other respects the administration of the provinces to which they were to go as proconsuls.
The whole affair, however, was exposed, and the comitia were not held in that year. (
Cic. Att. 4.18,
15,
16,
ad Q. Fr. 3.1. cap. 5.) Appius, however, asserted his right to command an army, even without a lex curiata. (
Ad Fam. 1.9.25,
ad Att. 4.16.12.)
He reached his province in July, B. C. 53, and governed it for two years. His rule appears to have been most tyrannous and rapacious. (
Cic. Att. 6.1,
2.8,
ad Fam. 15.4, comp. 3.8.5-8.)
He made war upon the mountaineers of Amanus, and some successes over them gave him a pretext for claiming a triumph. (
Cic. Fam. 3.1,
2; Eckhel, iv. p. 360.) Cicero wrote to him, while in his province, in terms of the greatest cordiality (
ad Fam. 3.1); but when he was appointed his successor in 51, Appius did not conceal his displeasure.
He avoided meeting him, and shewed him other marks of disrespect. His displeasure was increased by Cicero's countermanding some of his directions and regulations. (
Ad Fam. 3.2-6, 7, 8.) Appius on his return demanded a triumph, but was compelled to withdraw his claim by an impeachment instituted against him by Dolabella. (
Ad Fam. 3.9, 8.6, 3.11.)
As witnesses were required from his old province, he found himself again obliged to pay court to Cicero. (
Ad Fam. 3.10, comp. 8.6,
ad Att. 6.2.10.) Through the exertions of Pompey, Brutus, and Hortensius, he was acquitted. (
Ad Fam. 3.11,
Brut. 64, 94.)
He was at this time a candidate for the censorship, and a charge of bribery was brought against him, but he was acquitted. (
Ad Fam. 3.11, 12.)
He was chosen censor with L. Piso, B. C. 50. (For an account of the quarrel between Appius and Caelius, and the mutual prosecutions to which it gave rise, see
Cic. Fam. 8.12,
ad Q. F. 2.13.) Appius exercised his power as censor with severity (
ad Fam. 8.14.4), and expelled several from the senate, among others the historian Sallust. (Dion 40.63; Acron.
ad Hor.
Serm. 1.2. 48.) Appius, by his connexion with Pompey, and his opposition in the senate to Curio (Dion 40.64), drew upon himself the enmity of Caesar, and, when the latter marched upon Rome, he fled from Italy. (
Ad Att. 9.1.4.)
He followed Pompey, and received Greece as his province.
He consulted the Delphic oracle to learn his destiny, and, following its injunctions, went to Euboea, where he died before the battle of Pharsalus. (
V. Max. 1.8.10; Lucan,
5.120-
236.)
He was elected one of the college of augurs in 59. (Varr.
R. R. 3.2.2;
Cic. Fam. 3.10.9.)
He was well skilled in augury, and wrote a work on the augural discipline, which he dedicated to Cicero.
He was also distinguished for his legal and antiquarian knowledge. (Cic.
de Leg. 2.13,
de Divin. 2.35,
Brut. 77,
ad Fam. 3.4, 9, 11 ; Festus,
s. v. Solistimum.) He believed in augury and divination, and seems to have been of a superstitious turn of mind. (Cic.
de Div. 1.16, 58,
Tusc. Disp. 1.16.) Cicero speaks highly of his oratorical powers. (
Brut. 77.) His favourite and confidant was a freedman named Phanias. (
Ad Fam. 3.1, 5, 6.)
