page_title: Gaius Cassius Longinus
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Gaius Cassius Longinus / Biography / Early life
context_page_description: Gaius Cassius Longinus, often referred to as simply Cassius, was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspiracy. He commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's former supporters, and committed suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony.
  Cassius was elected as a Tribune of the Plebs in 49 BC. He opposed Caesar, and eventually he commanded a fleet against him during Caesar's Civil War: after Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender. After Caesar's death, Cassius fled to the East, where he amassed an army of twelve legions. He was supported and made Governor by the Senate. Though he and Brutus marched west against the allies of the Second Triumvirate.
  He followed the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, although scholars debate whether or not these beliefs affected his political life.
context_section_description: Gaius Cassius Longinus (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaːjʊs ˈkassɪ.ʊs ˈlɔŋɡɪnʊs]) came from a very old Roman family, gens Cassia, which had been prominent in Rome since the 6th century BC.
  Little is known of his early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of despots while still at school, by quarreling with the son of the dictator Sulla. He studied philosophy at Rhodes under Archelaus of Rhodes and became fluent in Greek. He was married to Junia Tertia, who was the daughter of Servilia and thus a half-sister of his co-conspirator Brutus. They had one son, who was born in about 60 BC.
caption: Denarius (42 BC) issued by Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther, depicting the crowned head of Liberty and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and lituus. From the military mint in Smyrna
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