Cassius Longinus

1 9.7

A Roman senator and army leader who helped plan the killing of Julius Caesar

proper noun

: Casio Longino

Cassius Longinus was a chief architect of the plot to kill Julius Caesar.

Examples

Shakespeare's play 'Julius Caesar' portrays Cassius Longinus as a shrewd and persuasive conspirator.
Many historians debate whether Cassius Longinus was motivated by personal ambition or love of Rome.
The infamous Cassius Longinus played a key role in Caesar's assassination.
Did Cassius Longinus truly believe that killing Caesar was necessary?
Cassius Longinus was a chief architect of the plot to kill Julius Caesar.
Many historians debate whether Cassius Longinus was motivated by personal ambition or love of Rome.
Shakespeare's play 'Julius Caesar' portrays Cassius Longinus as a shrewd and persuasive conspirator.

Synonyms

Gaius Cassius Longinus

vsCassius Longinus

1 9.9

Roman senator and general who helped lead the plot to kill Julius Caesar

omits the given name and is a shorter less formal form

Surface Forms

Cassius Longinus main

Morphology

Cassius + Longinus

This is a referential proper name made of two personal-name elements with no lexical meanings; knowing the constituent name forms does not let a B1 learner infer that Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator and conspirator in Caesar's assassination. Proper names are non-compositional and language-specific, so the overall meaning is unpredictable from the parts.

Etymology

Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator and general who helped lead the plot to kill Julius Caesar. Because he was a main conspirator, his name is remembered and often linked to 'conspiracy' and 'political plotting'.