View source for Lucius Cassius Longinus (consul 107 BC)

{{Short description|Roman statesman and general}}
{{Other people||Lucius Cassius Longinus (disambiguation){{!}}Lucius Cassius Longinus}}
[[File:Gleyre Charles Romans Under the Yoke.jpg|thumb|Roman survivors from the battle of Burdigala walking under the yoke under the watchful eyes of the Tigurini.]]
'''Lucius Cassius Longinus''' (c. 151 – 107 BC) was [[Roman consul|consul]] of the [[Roman Republic]] in 107 BC. His colleague was [[Gaius Marius]], then serving the first of his seven consulships.<ref name="duncan_sbfs">{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Mike |title=The Storm Before the Storm |date=2017 |publisher=PublicAffairs |location=New York |isbn=978-1-5417-2403-7 |page=119 }}</ref>
He was probably the eldest son of [[Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla]], consul in 127 BC, who had presided over the [[Trial of the Vestal Virgins (114–113 BC)|trial of several Vestal Virgins]] who had been charged with unchastity.
As [[praetor]] in 111 BC, he was sent to [[Numidia]] to bring [[Jugurtha]] to Rome to testify in corruption trials, promising him safe passage.<ref name="sallust">Sallust, ''Jug.'', 32</ref> Jugurtha valued this pledge as much as the public pledge for his safety. In 108, he came first in the polls and was elected senior consul for 107, with Gaius Marius (who came in second) as his junior colleague. He was assigned to Gaul to oppose the [[Cimbrian War|migration of a confederation of Germanic tribes]] (mainly [[Cimbri]] and [[Teutones]]).<ref>Lynda Telford, ''Sulla A Dictator Reconsidered'', p.42</ref> He was killed in an ambush at the [[Battle of Burdigala]], in modern-day [[Bordeaux]], along with 10,000 of his legionaries.<ref>Lynda Telford, ''Sulla A Dictator Reconsidered'', p.43</ref> After his death, the remains of his army under Gaius Popillius Laenas passed under the yoke, gave up half of their belongings, and returned to Rome.{{sfn|Duncan|2017|p=120}}
The massacre of Longinus and his army was one of the reasons given by [[Julius Caesar]] in ''[[De Bello Gallico]]'' for why he denied the Helvetii the freedom to migrate through Roman territory in 58 BC.<ref name="caesar">Caesar, ''De bello gallico'', 7</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{SmithDGRBM|title=Longinus, Cassius (5)|volume=2|page=799}}
* {{cite book |last=Sumner |year=1973 |first=G.V. |title=The Orators in Cicero's ''Brutus'': Prosopography and Chronology |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-5281-9 |ref={{sfnref|Sumner}} }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC)|Servius Sulpicius Galba]]|before2=[[Marcus Aurelius Scaurus]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Roman Republican consuls|Roman consul]]|with=[[Gaius Marius]]|years=107 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 106 BC)|Quintus Servilius Caepio]]|after2=[[Gaius Atilius Serranus]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassius Longinus, Lucius consul 647 AUC}}
[[Category:150s BC births]]
[[Category:107 BC deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Roman consuls]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Roman generals]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Roman praetors]]
[[Category:Cassii Longini|Lucius consul 647 AUC]]
[[Category:People of the Cimbrian War]]
[[Category:Roman consuls who died in office]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman generals killed in action]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]