38. R. R.
3.16), appears in ad Cic. Div. in Caecil. p. 109, Orell.) In 70 he served in Asia
under his brother-in-law, Lucullus, and was sent to Tigranes to demand the surrender of
Mithridates. (pro Dom. 43; Schol. Bob. in orat. in Clod. et Cur. p. 338, Oreil.) Through the favour and influence
of the consul L. Piso, however, he was made praetor without first filling the office of
aedile. (Cic. l.c.) As praetor (Ad Att. 3.17.) Though Appius
did not openly and in person oppose Cicero's recall (pro Dom. 33), he tacitly sanctioned and abetted the
proceedings of his brother Publius. He placed at his disposal the gladiators whom he had
hired, and alone of the praetors did nothing on behalf of Cicero; and, after the return of the
latter, shewed more decidedly which side he took. (Cic. pro Sext. 36,
39-41, in Pison. 15, pro Mil. 15, post. Red. in Sen. 9, ad Att. 4.1-3; Schol. Bob. p. 307, Orell.;
ad Q. F. 2.6, 15.) In ad Q. F. 2.12, ad Fam.
1.9, 3.10.) When Gabinius returned from his province, Appius appeared as his accuser, in hopes
that his silence might be bought, though previously he had said he would do all that lay in
his power to prevent the threatened prosecution. (Cic. ad Q. Fr. 2.12,
13, 3.2; ad Q. F. 3.4.) A still more glaring instance of his
dishonesty and venality was the compact which he and his colleague entered into with Cn.
Domitius Calvinus and C. Memmius, two of the candidates for the consulship, by which the two
latter bound themselves in the sum of 4,000,000 sesterces a-piece, in case they should be
appointed consuls, to bring forward false witnesses to prove that laws had been passed
assigning to Appius and his colleague the command of an army, and settling in other respects
the administration of the provinces to which they were to go as proconsuls. The whole affair,
however, was exposed, and the comitia were not held in that year. (ad Q. Fr. 3.1. cap. 5.) Appius, however, asserted his right
to command an army, even without a lex curiata. (Ad Fam. 1.9.25, ad Att. 4.16.12.) He reached his province in July, ad Fam. 15.4, comp. 3.8.5-8.) He made war upon the mountaineers of
Amanus, and some successes over them gave him a pretext for claiming a triumph. (ad Fam. 3.1); but when he was appointed his successor in 51, Appius did not
conceal his displeasure. He avoided meeting him, and shewed him other marks of disrespect. His
displeasure was increased by Cicero's countermanding some of his directions and regulations.
(Ad Fam. 3.2-6, 7, 8.) Appius on his return demanded a triumph, but was
compelled to withdraw his claim by an impeachment instituted against him by Dolabella. (Ad Fam. 3.9, 8.6, 3.11.) As witnesses were required from his old province,
he found himself again obliged to pay court to Cicero. (Ad Fam.
ad Att. 6.2.10.) Through the exertions of
Pompey, Brutus, and Hortensius, he was acquitted. (Ad Fam. 3.11, Brut. 64, 94.) He was at this time a candidate for the censorship, and a
charge of bribery was brought against him, but he was acquitted. (Ad Fam.
3.11, 12.) He was chosen censor with L. Piso, ad Q. F.
2.13.) Appius exercised his power as censor with severity (ad Fam.
8.14.4), and expelled several from the senate, among others the historian Sallust. (Dion
40.63; Acron. ad Hor. Serm. 1.2. 48.) Appius, by
his connexion with Pompey, and his opposition in the senate to Curio (Dion 40.64), drew upon
himself the enmity of Caesar, and, when the latter marched upon Rome, he fled from Italy. (Ad Att. 9.1.4.) He followed Pompey, and received Greece as his province. He
consulted the Delphic oracle to learn his destiny, and, following its injunctions, went to
Euboea, where he died before the battle of Pharsalus. (R. R. 3.2.2; de Leg. 2.13, de Divin. 2.35, Brut. 77, ad Fam. 3.4, 9, 11
; Festus, s. v. Solistimum.) He believed in augury and divination, and
seems to have been of a superstitious turn of mind. (Cic. de Div. 1.16,
58, Tusc. Disp. 1.16.) Cicero speaks highly of his oratorical powers.
(Brut. 77.) His favourite and confidant was a freedman named Phanias.
(Ad Fam. 3.1, 5, 6.)