Gaius Cassius Longinus
Roman senator and general who led the plot to kill Julius Caesar.
Marie-Lan Nguyen (User:Jastrow) 2009 · via Wikipedia: Gaius Cassius Longinus · CC BY 2.5
Quick Facts
- Born
- 86 BC
- Died
- 3 October 42 BC (aged 44)
- Place of death
- near Philippi, Macedonia
- Cause of death
- Suicide
- Resting place
- Thasos, Greece
- Other names
- Last of the Romans
- Occupation
- General and politician
- Known for
- Assassination of Julius Caesar
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
In 54 BC he served as quaestor under Marcus Licinius Crassus in the campaign against the Parthian Empire.[3] After the Roman defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC, Cassius led the surviving troops back to Syria and organized its defense.[3] According to Dio, the Roman soldiers offered Cassius the supreme command after the disaster, but he refused it.[4] He was elected tribune of the plebs in 49 BC and opposed Caesar during the civil war.[5][6]
Cassius commanded part of Pompey's fleet and attacked Caesar's navy near Sicily in 48 BC.[7] After Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender.[5] Cassius became praetor peregrinus in 44 BC and was the moving spirit in the conspiracy against Caesar.[8][9] Cassius was a member of the ancient patrician gens Cassia and received philosophical training in Rhodes from Archelaus of Rhodes.[10]
During 51 BC, Cassius orchestrated a successful ambush against a Parthian invasion force led by Prince Pacorus, resulting in the death of their commander Osaces.[11][12]
What the cited sources add
Plutarch's account states that Cassius turned his face toward the statue of Pompey and invoked it before the attack on Caesar.[13][14] Plutarch also records that Cassius was taken home and entertained by Antony after the assassination.[13] A collection of Cicero's letters shows that Cassius corresponded with Cicero and became a follower of the Epicurean school of philosophy.[15] Plutarch notes that Cassius used the same dagger to kill himself that he had used against Caesar.[14]
Dio records that when the invading force could not capture Antioch because Cassius drove them back effectively and they lacked the capacity for a siege, they withdrew.[16] Dio additionally states that Cassius positioned an ambush along the route the invaders would take for their departure, encircled them, and slew many, including Osaces.[16]
References
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford University Press, 1939, reprinted 2002), p. 57 online; Elizabeth Rawson, "Caesar: Civil War and Dictatorship," in The ; Plutarch, "Life of Caesar", University of Chicago, p. 595; Suetonius, "De Vita Caesarum", University of Chicago, 121, p. 107; Plutarch, Brutus. 7.1; Plutarch, Brutus, 43 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Life of Brutus, 43.5-6.; Plutarch, Life of Brutus, 44.2. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Crassus, 18; "Battle of Carrhae"; Dio, Roman History, 40.28; Morrell, "Pompey, Cato, and the Governance of the Roman Empire", Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 184 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Dio, Roman History, 40.28. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Appian, Civil Wars., 2.33; Appian, Civil Wars., 2.33; Appian, Civil Wars., 2.87; Appian, Civil Wars., 2.88 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Brutus, 7; Appian, Civil Wars., 2.33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Caesar, Civil War, iii.101. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: In a letter written in 45 BC, Cassius says to Cicero, "There is nothing that gives me more pleasure to do than to write to you; for I seem to be talking and jok (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological Association, 1952), vol. 2, p. 320, citing Plutarch, Brutus 7.1–3 and Caesar 62.2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Brutus, 9.1-4; Appian, Civil Wars, 4.67. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dio, Roman History, 40.28 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Gaius Cassius Longinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dio, Roman History, 40.29; Gareth C. Sampson, The defeat of Rome, Crassus' Carrhae & the invasion of the East, p.159 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Plutarch, Life of Brutus, 44.2.. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
- Plutarch, "Life of Caesar", University of Chicago, p. 595. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
- In a letter written in 45 BC, Cassius says to Cicero, "There is nothing that gives me more pleasure to do than to write to you; for I seem to be talking and jok. facts only, no text reused. attalus.org
- Dio, Roman History, 40.29. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Gaius Cassius Longinus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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