Cassius
Gaius Cassius Longinus (flourished 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 fleet commander 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. Subsequently, he raised an army to fight against Caesar's commander in chief, Mark Antony, and later against the Triumvirate, the three men who ruled Rome after Caesar's assassination. With his fellow conspirator, the Roman politician Marcus Junius Brutus, Cassius besieged his foes at Philippi in Macedonia but was defeated in battle. Cassius committed suicide so that he would not be captured.