Gaius Cassius Longinus

• 1. A Boy Who Quarreled With Sulla

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  Gaius Cassius Longinus emerged from the gens Cassia, a family that had held prominence in Rome since the 6th century BC. His early years remain obscure to modern historians, yet one story survives about his youth at school. He quarreled with the son of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the dictator who had seized control of the Roman state. This childhood conflict signaled an early dislike for despots and set the tone for his future political life. Cassius later studied philosophy under Archelaus of Rhodes, where he became fluent in Greek. He married Junia Tertia, the daughter of Servilia, making him the brother-in-law of Marcus Brutus. They had one son born around 60 BC.

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• 2. The Retreat From Carrhae

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  In 54 BC, Gaius Cassius Longinus joined Marcus Licinius Crassus on an eastern campaign against the Parthian Empire as quaestor. The following year, Crassus led the Roman army into Northern-Mesopotamia at the Battle of Carrhae. It stands as the worst defeat since Hannibal destroyed a Roman force at Cannae in 216 BC. Cassius organized the retreat of remaining troops back into Syria and formed an effective defense force for the province. Plutarch suggests that Crassus could have avoided this crushing defeat by listening to Cassius's advice not to invade Parthia. After the disaster, Roman soldiers and even Crassus himself were willing to give overall command to Cassius, but he refused it. Dio records that the Parthians viewed Cassius as equal to Crassus in authority yet superior in ability.

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• 3. Ambush On The Euphrates

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  By 51 BC, Cassius managed to ambush and defeat an invading Parthian army under Prince Pacorus and General Osaces. He initially refused battle, keeping his army behind the walls of Antioch while besieged there. When the Parthians abandoned the siege and began ravaging the countryside, Cassius followed them with his forces harassing their movements. The decisive encounter occurred on October 7 as the Parthians turned away from Antigonea during their return journey. A detachment of Cassius's army faked a retreat to lure the enemy into an ambush. They suddenly found themselves surrounded by Cassius's main forces and defeated. Their general Osaces died from wounds, and the rest of the Parthian army retreated across the Euphrates river.

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• 4. From Pompey To Caesar

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  Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC when civil war threatened between Julius Caesar and Pompey. He was elected tribune of the plebs for 49 BC and aligned himself with the Optimates faction. His brother Lucius Cassius supported Caesar instead. After Caesar crossed the Rubicon, Cassius left Italy and met Pompey in Greece. He received command of part of Pompey's fleet. In 48 BC, he sailed to Sicily where he attacked and burned a large portion of Caesar's navy. He then harassed ships off the Italian coast. News of Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus sent Cassius toward the Hellespont hoping to ally with King Pharnaces II of Pontus. Caesar overtook him en route and forced unconditional surrender. Suetonius and Cassius Dio claim that Lucius Cassius surrendered at the Hellespont instead. Caesar later made Gaius Cassius Longinus a legate during the Alexandrian War against Pharnaces. However, Cassius refused to fight Cato and Scipio in Africa, choosing retirement in Rome instead.

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• 5. The Praetor And The Plot

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  In 44 BC, Cassius became praetor peregrinus with promises of governing Syria for the following year. The appointment of his junior and brother-in-law Marcus Brutus as praetor urbanus deeply offended him. Although Cassius was the moving spirit behind the plot against Caesar, Brutus became their leader. On the Ides of March, 44 BC, Cassius urged fellow liberators on and struck Caesar in the chest. They succeeded in assassinating Caesar, but celebration ended quickly when Mark Antony seized power. Cicero frequently complained in letters from 44 BC that Rome remained under tyranny because the Liberators failed to kill Antony. Some accounts suggest Cassius wanted to kill Antony alongside Caesar, but Brutus dissuaded him. After Caesar's death, Cassius fled east to Syria where he amassed an army of twelve legions. The Senate supported him and confirmed him as governor of the province.

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• 6. Defeat At Philippi

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  Cassius set upon and sacked Rhodes in 43 BC while Brutus did the same to Lycia. They regrouped the next year in Sardis where armies proclaimed them imperator. They crossed the Hellespont and marched through Thrace before encamping near Philippi in Macedon. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian and Mark Antony soon arrived with combined forces. Cassius planned to starve them out using superior positioning in the region. Antony forced a pair of battles known collectively as the Battle of Philippi. Brutus defeated Octavian and took his camp successfully. Cassius was defeated and overrun by Mark Antony instead. Unaware of Brutus's victory, Cassius ordered his freeman Pindarus to help him kill himself. Pindarus fled afterward and Cassius's head was found severed from his body. Brutus mourned him as the Last of the Romans and buried him in Thassos on the 3rd of October 42 BC.

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