Editing Appian Way (section)

=== Appius Claudius' beginning of the works ===
In 312&nbsp;BC, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]] became [[Roman censor|censor]] at Rome. He was of the [[gens Claudia]], who were [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] descended from the [[Sabines]] taken into the early Roman state. He had been given the name of the founding ancestor of the gens, Appius Claudius (Attus Clausus in Sabine). He was a [[Populism|populist]], i.e., an advocate of the common people. A man of discernment and perception, in the years of success he was said to have lost his outer vision{{clarify|date=December 2023}} and thus acquired the name {{lang|la|caecus}}, 'blind'.

Without waiting to be told what to do by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], Appius Claudius began bold public works to address the supply problem. An aqueduct (the [[Aqua Appia]]) secured the water supply of the city of Rome. By far the best known project was the road, which ran across the [[Pontine Marshes]] to the coast northwest of [[Naples]], where it turned north to Capua. On it, any number of fresh troops could be sped to the theatre of operations, and supplies could be moved en masse to Roman bases without hindrance by either enemy or terrain. It is no surprise that, after his term as censor, Appius Claudius became [[Roman consul|consul]] twice, subsequently held other offices, and was a respected consultant to the state even during his later years.