Appius Claudius Caudex
Appius Claudius Caudex was a
patrician member of the
Claudii. He was the grandson of
Appius Claudius Caecus through his father Gaius, and served as
consul in
264 BC.
In that year, he drew
Rome into conflict with
Carthage over possession of
Sicily. In
265 BC,
Hiero II of Syracuse had attacked
Messina in an attempt to recapture it from the
Mamertines, mercenaries from
Campania who had taken it from him some years before. The Mamertines allied with a nearby Carthaginian fleet and held off the
Syracusans, but when the Carthaginians did not leave, the Mamertines appealed to Rome in 264 BC.
Some
senators were opposed to helping them, but Appius Claudius persuaded the citizens to support them. He led a force to Messina, and as the Mamertines had convinced the Carthaginians to withdraw he met with only a symbolic resistance. The Mamertines handed the city over to Appius Claudius, but the Carthaginians returned to set up a blockade. The Syracusans, meanwhile, were also stationed outside the city. Claudius tried to send ambassadors to both the Carthaginians and the Syracusans, but he was ignored. He then led his troops outside the city defeated the Syracusans in battle, and Hiero retreated back to Syracuse. The next day Claudius also defeated the Carthaginians.
This dispute was one of the immediate causes of the
First Punic War.
His son was
Publius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 249 BC.
*
Claudian family tree*Encyclopaedia Britannica, ed. 1985, "Claudius Pulcher, Publius" states that Publius was this Appius' son
*
Appius Claudius Caudex
