Lucius Cassius Longinus (consul 107 BC)

Lucius Cassius Longinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 107 BC. His colleague was Gaius Marius who then served in his first of seven consulships.[1]

As a praetor in 111 BC, he was sent to Numidia to bring Jugurtha to Rome to testify in corruption trials, promising him safe passage.[2] Jugurtha valued this pledge as much as the public pledge for his safety. In 108 he came out ahead of the polls and was therefore elected consul prior for 107 with Gaius Marius (who came in second) as his junior colleague (the consul posterior). He was assigned to Gaul to oppose the migration of a confederation of Germanic tribes (mainly Cimbri and Teutones).[3] He was killed in an ambush at the Battle of Burdigala, modern-day Bordeaux, along with 10,000 of his legionaries.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

References

1. Duncan, Mike (2017). The Storm Before the Storm. New York: PublicAffairs. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-5417-2403-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Sallust, Jug., 32
3. Lynda Telford, Sulla A Dictator Reconsidered, p.42
4. Lynda Telford, Sulla A Dictator Reconsidered, p.43
5. Duncan 2017, p. 120.
6. Caesar, De bello gallico, 7

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Longinus, Cassius (5)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 2. p. 799.

Preceded by Servius Sulpicius Galba and Marcus Aurelius Scaurus	Consul of the Roman Republic with Gaius Marius 107 BC	Succeeded by Quintus Servilius Caepio and Gaius Atilius Serranus