Lucius Cassius Longinus was the brother of the
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus (c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the cons ...
, a leading instigator in the
assassination of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated by a group of senators on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC during a meeting of the Senate at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey in Rome where the senators stabbed Caesar 23 ti ...
.
![L](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/L._Cassius_Longinus%2C_denarius%2C_63_BC%2C_RRC_413-1.jpg)
Around 52 BC, Lucius was ''
triumvir monetalis
The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...
'' in 63 BC. He minted
denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...
referring to the famous
trial of the vestal virgins of 114–113 BC, which was prosecuted by his ancestor
Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla was a Roman politician. He served as consul in 127 BC and censor at the following lustrum in 125 BC.
His first recorded office was that of tribune of the plebs in 137 BC. As a tribune of the plebs, he ...
.
He was a
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...
by
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
's appointment in 48 BC, during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. He occupied
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
, but was forced by
Metellus Scipio
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (c. 95 – 46 BC), often referred to as Metellus Scipio, was a Roman senator and military commander. During the civil war between Julius Caesar and the senatorial faction led by Pompey, he was a staunch supp ...
to retreat, after which he joined
Calvisius Sabinus in
Aetolia
Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania.
Geography
The Achelous ...
. He was a
tribune of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most importan ...
in 44 BC, a year in which the people's tribunes were exceptionally numerous and his brother held the
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
ship. Along with his fellow tribunes
Tiberius Canutius Tiberius Canutius or Cannutius was tribune of the plebs in 44 BC, the year of Caesar's assassination. As a supporter of the senatorial party, he opposed the triumvirs, resorting to military force during the Perusine War. He was captured and put ...
and
Decimus Carfulenus Decimus Carfulenus, called Carsuleius by Appianus, was a Roman statesman from the time of the Civil War to the Battle of Mutina, in which he perished.
Biography
Carfulenus served under Caesar in the Alexandrine War, B.C. 47. Hirtius describes him ...
, L. Cassius was excluded from the important meeting of the
Roman senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
held November 28 to reassign several provinces for the following year. A bill enabling Caesar to add new families to the
patriciate was probably sponsored by him rather than his brother as praetor.
[Giovanni Niccolini, ''I fasti dei tribuni della plebe'' (Milan 1934), p. 347, on the question of which brother was responsible for the legislation. Offices, dates, and citations of ancient sources from T.R.S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'' (American Philological Association, 1953), vol. 2, pp. 275, 323–324, 435, 544; vol. 3 (1986), pp. 51–52 (on ''monetalis'' date).]
References
Bibliography
*
Michael Crawford
Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian.
Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...
, ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press, 1974.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassius Longinus, Lucius
1st-century BC Romans
Ancient Roman generals
Longinus, Lucius