APPIUS CLAUDIUS CAECUS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF ROMAN PHILOSOPHY

The paper deals with the interpretation of the thought of Appius Claudius Caecus, who, according to tradition, belongs to the first Roman philosophical authors. At the beginning of this paper, the author presents four models of interpretation of the beginnings of Roman philosophy (historical and cultural, idealizing, class, literary) in the thinking of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Later the author deals with the thinking of Appius Claudius Caecus in two issues. The first group of problems concerns the association of Appius Claudius Caecus thinking with the philosophy of Pythagoreism. The second group of problems concerns the status of this author in the interpretation of the beginnings of the history of Roman philosophy.