Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 politician of the 2nd century BC.

Life

Son of Gaius Claudius Pulcher

Gaius Claudius Pulcher (consul 177 BC)

Gaius Claudius Pulcher, a.k.a. Caius Claudius , consul in 177 BC, was the son of Appius Claudius Pulcher consul in 212 BC, and he was the father of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 143 BC....

 (who was consul in 177

177

Year 177 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Plautius...

), he was appointed consul in 143 BC

143 BC

Year 143 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pulcher and Macedonicus...

, and, to obtain a pretext for a triumph

Roman triumph

The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...

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

Sibylline Books

The Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire...

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

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

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

Vestal Virgin

In ancient Roman religion, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins , were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome, as embodied by their cultivation of the sacred fire that could not be...

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

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 were also consuls.Nobilior and his father were patrons of the writer Quintus Ennius....

, probably in 136 BC

136 BC

Year 136 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philus and Serranus...

. He allied with Tiberius Gracchus

Tiberius Gracchus

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...

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

133 BC

Year 133 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scaevola and Frugi...

 with Tiberius and Tiberius' brother, Gaius Gracchus

Gaius Gracchus

Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...

, 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 among veterans of the Punic War. Another faction 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...

 opposed them and Tiberius was assassinated

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 in 132 BC

132 BC

Year 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius...

. Appius lived at enmity with Publius Scipio Aemilianus

Scipio Aemilianus Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus , also known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a leading general and politician of the ancient Roman Republic...

. He died shortly after Tiberius Gracchus, probably in 130 BC

130 BC

Year 130 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus/Pulcher and Perperna . The denomination 130 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in...

. He was one of the Salii

Salii

In ancient Roman religion, the Salii were the "leaping priests" of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak , a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex...

, an augur

Augur

The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...

, and princeps senatus

Princeps senatus

The princeps senatus was the first member by precedence of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the cursus honorum and owning no imperium, this office brought enormous prestige to the senator holding it.-Overview:...

. Cicero, says, that his style of speaking was fluent and vehement. He married Antistia.