A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

800' LONGINUS. LONGINCLS.
soldiers, that they offered him in'Carrhae the' ma'de him soon afterwards one' of his'legates:
supreme command of the army; but this he de- Whether Cassius took part in the Alexandrian war,.lined, although Crassus; in his despondency, was is unknown; but: he appears to have been engaged
quite willing to resign it.'.In the retreat from in that against Pharnaces, In B. c. 46 he reCarrhae, which they were soon afterwards obliged mained in Rome, as he did not wish to accompany
to make, Crassus was misled by the guides, and Caesar to Africa in order to fight against his former
killed [CRAssUs, p. 878]; but Cassius, suspect- friends, and he was busily engaged during this time
ing treachery,' returned to Carrhae, and thence in studying along with Cicero. In the following
made his' escape to Syria-with 500 horsemen by year, B. C. 45, he retired from Rome to Brundisium,
another way. - After'crossing the Euphrates,' he waiting to hear the result of the struggle in Spain,
collected the'remains of the Roman army, and and intending to return to Rome on the first news
made preparations to defend the province against of the victory of the dictator. During this time
the Parthians. The enemy did not cross the river he and Cicero kept up a diligent correspondence
till the following year, s. c, 52, and then only with with'one another. (Cic. ad Fam. 17-19;'comp.
a small force,' which' was easily driven back by ad Alt. xiii. 22.)
Cassius, upon whom the government of the pro- In B. C. 44 Cassius was praetor peregrinus, and
vince had devolved as proquaestor, as no successor was to receive the province of Syria next year.
to Crassus had yet been, appointed. Next year, But although his life had been spared, and he was
B. c. 51, the Parthians again crossed the river, with thus raised to honours by Caesar, yet he was the'a much'larger army, under- the command of Osaces author of the conspiracy against the dictator's life.
and Pacorus, the son of Orodes, the Parthian king. He was said to have been deeply aggrieved, because
As M. Bibulus, who had been appointed proconsul M. Brutus, although his junior, had been appointed
of Syria, had'not vet arrived, the conduct of the by Caesar as city praetor, in preference to himself;
war again' devolved upon Cassius. He thought it but this slight only exasperated the feelings he had
more prudent to retire at first before the Parthians, previously entertained. He had never ceased lo
and threw himself into the strongly fortified city be Caesar's enemy, and Caesar seems to have looked
of Antioch; and when the barbarians withdrew upon him with more mistrust than upon most of his
finding it impossible to take the place, he followed former foes (comp. Plut. Caes. 62; Vell. Pat. ii.
them, and gained, in September, a brilliant victory 56). One thing, however, is clear, that it was
over them. Osaces died a few days after of the mere personal hatred and ambition which urged on
wounds which he had received in the battle, and Cassius to take away the dictator's life; and that
the remains of- the army fled in confusion across a love of country and of liberty was a sheer pretext.
the Euphrates.' Cicero, who commanded in the His great object was to gain over M. Brutus, the
neighbouring province of Cilicia, was now delivered dictator's favourite, and when this was done, everyfrom' the great fear he had entertained of being thing else was easily arranged. In the bloody
obliged to meet the Parthians himself, and accord- tragedy of the 15th of March, Cassius took a disingly wrote to Cassius to congratulate him on his tinguished part. When the conspirators pressed
success (ad Fam. xv. 14. ~ 3), but notwithstand- round Caesar, and one of them hesitated to strike,
ing this attempted, in every possible way,-to rob Cassius called out " Strike, though it be through
him of the honour of the victory. (Ad Fam. iii. 8, me," and he himself is said to have wounded
viii. 10, ad Att. v. 21.) On the arrival of Bibulus, Caesar in the face.
Cassius returned to Italy. He expected to be ac- After the murder the conspirators fled to the
cused of extortion; and he was generally sup- Capitol; but they were bitterly disappointed in
posed, and apparently with justice, to have fleeced finding that the supreme power fell into the hands
the provincials unmercifully. But the breaking of Antony, who was supported by the army of
out of the civil war, almost immediately after- Lepidus, which was in the neighbourhood of the
wvards, saved him from the accusation which he city. [LEPIDUS, p. 767.] A hollow agreement
dreaded. was patched up between Antony and the conspiIn B. C. 49 Cassius was tribune of the plebs. rators, in consequence of which the latter left the
He was a supporter of the aristocratical party, and, Capitol; but the riots which broke out at Caesar's
with the rest of the leaders of that party, left funeral showed the conspirators that even their
Rome in the month of January. He crossed over lives were not safe in Rome. Many of them imto Greece with Pompey in the month of March, mediately quitted the city, but Cassius and Brutus
and subsequently received the command of' the remained behind, till the attempts of the PseudoSyrian, Phoenician, and Cilician ships. With Marius, who was executed by Marius, hastened
these he went to Sicily in the following year, B. C. their departure in the middle of April. They did
48, where he burnt off Messana thirty-five ships, not, however, go far, but flattering themselves with
commanded by the Caesarian, M. Pomponius, and the hope that there might be some change in their
subsequently five ships belonging to the squadron favour, they remained for the next four months in
of Sulpicius and Libo. After that he made many Latium and Campania. As-praetors, they ought of
descents upon the coasts of Sicily and Italy, till course to have continued in Rome; and the senate,
the news of the battle of Pharsalia obliged him to anxious to make it appear that they had not fled
put'a stop to his devastations. from the city, passed a decree on the 5th of June,
Cassius sailed' to the Hellespont, -with the hope by. which they were commissioned to purchase
of inducing' Pharnaces to join him against Caesar; corn in Sicily and Asia. But Cassius looked upon
but in that sea he accidentally fell in with Caesar, this as an insult in the guise of a favour. About
and although he had a much larger force, he was so the same time he and Brutus received Cyrene and
much astoinished'and alarmed. at meeting with the Crete as praetorian provinces, but this-was a poor
conqueror, that he did not attempt to make any re- compensation for the provinces of Syria and Macesistance, but surrendered himself unconditionally donia, the former of which Caesar had promised to
into his power. Caesar not only forgave him, but Cassius and the latter- to Brutus, but which bad