Cassius the name of a prominent Roman gens, or clan. It was of patrician (noble) origin, but became identified with the plebeians (common people).
three times consul of Rome, introduced the first agrarian law in 486 B.C. By this law, public lands would be distributed to plebeians. The patricians, who violently opposed the law, had Cassius put to death a year later.
was the most famous of the clan. His story is told in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Cassius supported Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus (48 B.C.), but Caesar forgave him and in 44 B.C. made him a praetor. Cassius was an active conspirator and one of the actual assassins of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. When Mark Antony aroused public feeling against the slayers, Cassius fled from Rome. He and Brutus were defeated by Antony and Octavian (Augustus) in the Battle of Philippi (42 B.C.) and Cassius, at his own request, was killed by a servant.
was another of Caesar's assassins. He joined the forces of Sextus Pompeius, Pompey's son, after taking part in the Battle of Philippi. When Pompeius was defeated in 36 B.C., Cassius fled to the army of Mark Antony, which was defeated at Actium in 31 B.C. A year later he was put to death by Octavian.
