Gaius Cassius Longinus

Gaius Cassius Longinus (fl. 53-42 bc), Roman general and one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. Cassius distinguished himself in the war against the Parthians (53-51 bc). In 49 bc, he fought against Caesar in a civil war as commander of the navy under the Roman general and statesman Pompey the Great. Although pardoned by Caesar, who made him a legate, Cassius subsequently became one of the leaders of the conspiracy against Caesar and participated in Caesar's assassination. He subsequently raised an army to fight against Caesar's commander in chief, Mark Antony, and later against the Triumvirate, the three men (namely Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus) who ruled Rome after Caesar's assassination. Together with his fellow conspirators, Marcus Junius Brutus and Publius Servilius Casca, Cassius besieged the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (later the emperor Augustus) at Philippi in Macedonia but was defeated in battle and later committed suicide. Parts of his life are presented in the play Julius Caesar (c. 1599) by the English dramatist William Shakespeare.