Appius Claudius Caecus was a Roman

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 politician from a wealthy patrician family. He was dictator

Dictator

A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 himself and the son of Gaius Claudius Crassus, dictator in 337 BC

337 BC

Year 337 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Paetus...

.
He was a censor in 312 BC

312 BC

Year 312 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Mus...

 although he had not previously been consul. He sought support from the lower classes, allowing sons of freed slaves to serve in the Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, and extending voting privileges to men in the rural tribes who did not own land.