He also instigated controversial popular-minded reforms and is also credited with the authorship of a juristic treatise, a collection of moral essays, and several poems, making him one of Rome's earliest literary figures.

During Caecus's time in office, aside from his building projects, he introduced several controversial but poorly-understood constitutional reforms: he increased the voting power of the poor and landless in the legislative assemblies, and admitted lower-class citizens to the Roman Senate, though these measures were partially undone by the resentful nobility.

Later in life, having become blind (Latin: caecus, whence the surname) from old age, he delivered a speech to the Senate successfully opposing peace with the Epirote king Pyrrhus.

Fabius Pictor, who was the earliest Roman historian and a member of the Fabian family, may have been the source for a significant amount of smear against Caecus, accusing him of being a corrupted, immoral demagogue, and an inept general.

Owing to the wide divergence in the sources, modern scholars have had very different interpretations of Caecus' deeds: he has been described as a revolutionary, a reactionary, a would-be tyrant, or a great reformer, comparable to Athenian figures like Cleisthenes and Pericles.

[6] Caecus, who was originally called Appius Claudius Crassus,[7] was born into the patrician clan of the Claudii, one of the most important Roman families of the time, whose members had held executive offices of state since the beginning of the Republic.

[14] However, his thesis has been criticised, notably by Stephen Oakley, who notes that there is not enough evidence to know whether iterations of the military tribuneship and aedileship were really exceptional for this period, during which most careers are unknown.

[16] During his time as censor he sought support from the lower classes, by allowing sons of freedmen to serve in the Senate, and extending voting privileges to men in the rural tribes who did not own land.

[18] The speech is the source of the saying "every man is the architect of his own fortune" (Latin: quisque faber suae fortunae), and was still known in the time of Cicero[19] In 279 BC, Appius went blind due to a curse, according to Livy.