Gaius Cassius Longinus, the Caesar murderer

[Jochen]

Dear friends of ancient coins!

I have finally managed to add a coin of Gaius Cassius Longinus to my collection.

The coin:
Roman Republic, C. Cassius Longinus, gens Cassia, P. Cornelius Spinther, gens Cornelia
AR - denarius, 3.74g, 20.81mm, 180°
        stuck during the campaign of Brutus and Cassius, probably 42 BC in Smyrna
Obv.: Head of Libertas, diademed and draped, r.
         in front from bottom to top LEIBERTAS
         behind it from bottom to top C.CASSIVS.IMP
Rev: Capis and Lituus
        below in 2 lines LENTVLVS / SPINT
Ref: Crawford 500/3; CRI 221; RSC 4; Sydenham 1307; BMCRR East 77; Kestner 3767; RBW 1762
Rare, S+

About the coin:
The depiction of Libertas on the obverse is of course meant as a contrast to Caesar's tyranny. Libertas was also the code word of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, but was used by both sides in the civil war. Cassius and Brutus placed capis and lituus on 3 coins in 43/42. This shows the importance they attached to these two attributes. Crawford interpreted the iconography of obv. and rev. separately and related capis and lituus to the augury of Spinther. According to Wallace-Hadrill, however, obv. and rev. must be seen together, as must also be done on coins of Augustus. Both were concerned with legitimisation by the senate. These symbols were intended to emphasise the claim that Brutus and Cassius were traditional republican military leaders (impertores), as they also called themselves.

Before the assassination:
Not much is known about the early life of C. Cassius Longinus (before 85 BC-42 BC). He belonged to the old plebeian senatorial family of the Cassians and was quaestor shortly before 53 BC. As such, he took part in Crassus' campaign against the Parthians, but escaped the catastrophe of Carrhae in 53 BC and was able to retreat to Syria with the rest of the troops and defend it against the Parthians. During these years he gained a reputation as an outstanding military man, but also displayed a ruthless greed. He was to be accused of extortion and exploitation in Syria, but was able to avoid this by being elected tribune of the people.

In the civil war, he was a successful naval commander on the side of Pompey against Caesar. After the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, Caesar pardoned him ("clementia Caesaris") and made him his legate.

Inwardly, however, Caesar had not been able to win him over. Philosophical lectures in particular, which he heard from Cicero, reinforced his bitterness and mood of resistance (Pauly). Even the proconsular imperum in Syria promised for 43 could not change this.

According to Plutarch, Cassius, Brutus' brother-in-law, was the driving force behind the conspiracy against Caesar. The main reason of the conspiracy was the dissatisfaction of many senators with Caesar's claim to sole power and the loss of the leading role of the Senate. Cassius is said to have won over Brutus, but soon lost the leadership to him.

Caesar was murdered by the conspirators on the Ides of March 44 BC. The assassination of Marcus Antonius, which Cassius had proposed, was rejected by Brutus, which turned out to be a big mistake. The biggest mistake, however, was that the conspirators had no concrete plans for the time after the assassination!

After the assassination:
Cassius unsuccessfully spoke out against a funeral service for Caesar. After the hostile attitude of the people against the assassins, the Senate withdrew the promised province from him and awarded him the Cyrenaica in return. In September he nevertheless travelled to Syria, which had been given to Dolabella, defeated him and thus gained Syria and a powerful army. After Antony had been defeated at Mutina, he was confirmed by the Senate.

In November 43, Cassius met with Brutus in Smyrna to discuss further action against Antony and Octavian. Our coin was also struck on this occasion. They agreed that Cassius should take Rhodes and then cleanse the province of Asia. At the beginning of 42 he met Brutus in Sardis, where both received the imperatorial acclamation from the army. They then crossed the Hellespont and marched to Philippi against Antony and Octavian.  The course of the battle is meticulously described by Appian. It was tragic. Despite his favourable position, Antony succeeded in conquering Cassius' camp. Cassius escaped to a hill near Philippi, but had no overview of the course of the battle. He did not realise that Brutus had conquered Octavian's camp on the other side, thought all was lost and threw himself on his sword. Brutus called him "the last Roman" and buried him on Thasos.

Judgement:
Although Cassius was admired and favourably judged for his military prowess, it is also claimed that he became an assassin because of his unsatisfied ambition. In his Divine Comedy, Dante counted him, along with Brutus and Judas, among the greatest traitors to humanity and included him in the innermost circle of hell.

In contrast to today's politicians, most politicians in ancient times were also philosophically active or followers of philosophical movements. Cassius "converted" to Epicureanism around 48 BC, but to a more "heroic" one. This can be read in letters that he exchanged with Cicero. The contradiction between the traditional Epicureanism, which wanted to keep away from politics, and the politically active Epicureanism, which was supposed to secure freedom, could ultimately not be resolved, and the philosophy of the political opposition in the Roman Empire tended to favour the Stoa anyway. This was one reason why historians found Cassius more difficult to understand than Brutus, and less admirable (Momigliano).

One of the most famous descriptions of his character can be found in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", Act I, Scene II, Here it is:

Caesar:  "Let  me  have  men  about  me  that  are  fat;
Sleek-headed  men  and  such  as  sleep  a-nights.
Yond  Cassius  has  a  lean  and  hungry  look;
He  thinks  too  much;  such  men  are  dangerous;
...
I  do  not  know  the  man  I  should  avoid
So  soon  as  that  spare  Cassius.  He  reads  too  much;
He  is  a  great  observer,  and  looks
Quite  through  the  deeds  of  men;  he  loves  no  plays,
As  thou  dost,  Antony;  he  hears  no  music;
Seldom  he  smiles,  and  smiles  in  such  a  sort
As  if  he  mock'd  himself,  and  scorn'd  his  spirit
That  could  be  mov'd  to  smile  at  any  thing.
Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease
Whiles  they  behold  a  greater  than  themselves,
And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous."

I have addes a pic of the so-called "Pseudo-Corbulo", once thought to be the portrait of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, probably it is the portrait of Gaius Cassius Longinus. Pari marble, 1st century BC, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Sources:
(1) Dio Cassius, Roman History
(2) Suetonius, De vita Caesarum
(3) Plutarch, Brutus
(4) Appian, Civil Wars
(5) Cicero, Ad familiares

Literature:
(1) Theodor Mommsen, Roman History
(2) Der Kleine Pauly
(3) Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia
(4) Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
(5) Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March
(6) Roberta Stewart, The Jug and Lituus on Roman Republican Coin Types: Ritual Symbols and Political Power, Phoenix, 1997
(7) Wallace-Hadrill, A. 1986. "Image and Authority in the Coinage of Augustus," JRS 76

Online sources:
(1) Wildwinds
(2) Wikipedia
(3) www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4116-cassius-longinus

Kind regards
Jochen