A man of inner perspicacity, in the years of success he was said to have lost his outer vision and thus acquired the name caecus, "blind". He was a populist, i.e., an advocate of the common people. He had been given the name of the founding ancestor of the gens, Appius Claudius (Attus Clausus in Sabine). He was of the gens Claudia, who were patricians descended from the Sabines taken into the early Roman state. In 312 BC, Appius Claudius Caecus became censor at Rome.
The Neapolitans appealed to Rome, which sent an army and expelled the Samnites from Neapolis.Īppius Claudius' beginning of the works The Samnites, now a major power after defeating the Greeks of Tarentum, occupied Neapolis to try to ensure its loyalty. The Second Samnite War (327–304 BC) erupted when Rome attempted to place a colony at Cales in 334 BC and again at Fregellae in 328 BC on the other side of the marshes. The first answer was the colonia, a "cultivation" of settlers from Rome, who would maintain a permanent base of operations. The Romans were only biding their time while they looked for a solution.
They gave up the attempted alliance and settled with Samnium. A revolt of the Latin League drained their resources further. In the First Samnite War (343–341 BC) the Romans found they could not support or resupply troops in the field against the Samnites across the marsh. The Via Latina followed its ancient and scarcely more accessible path along the foothills of Monti Laziali and Monti Lepini, which are visible towering over the former marsh. A tortuous coastal road wound between Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber and Neapolis. San Sebastiano fuori le Mura, located on the catacombs of San Sebastianoīetween Capua and Rome lay the Pontine Marshes ( Pomptinae paludes), a swamp infested with malaria.
The Samnites reacted with military force. Around 343 BC, Rome and Capua attempted to form an alliance. They were responsible for changing Rome from a primarily Etruscan to a primarily Italic state.ĭense populations of sovereign Samnites remained in the mountains north of Capua, which is just north of the Greek city of Neapolis. The Italic speakers in Latium had long ago been subdued and incorporated into the Roman state. The Samnite Wars were instigated by the Samnites when Rome attempted to ally itself with the city of Capua in Campania. Romans had an affinity for the people of Campania, who, like themselves, traced their backgrounds to the Etruscans. Their roads began at Rome, where the master itinerarium, or list of destinations along the roads, was located, and extended to the borders of their domain – hence the expression, " All roads lead to Rome". By the late Republic, the Romans had expanded over most of Italy and were masters of road construction. The few roads outside the early city were Etruscan and went mainly to Etruria. The Appian Way was the first long road built specifically to transport troops outside the smaller region of greater Rome (this was essential to the Romans). The Appian Way was a Roman road used as a main route for military supplies since its construction for that purpose in 312 BC. Porta San Sebastiano is the gate of the Appia in the Aurelian Walls.
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