lix. 29; Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Literature_, S 298, 3.

CASSIUS, AVIDIUS (d. A.D. 175), Roman general, a Syrian by birth, lived
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He especially distinguished himself
during the Parthian War (A.D. 162-165), at the conclusion of which he
was apparently appointed military governor of Asia, though the actual
extent of his jurisdiction is doubtful. In 172 he was sent to Egypt,
where he put down a dangerous rising of the Bucolici, the robber
herdsmen of the delta of the Nile, after which he returned to Syria. In
175 the emperor Aurelius fell ill, and his wife Faustina, to secure her
position in case of his death, offered her hand and the throne to the
successful general. A rumour of Aurelius's death having reached Syria,
Cassius, without waiting for confirmation, proclaimed himself emperor;
when the report proved false, it was too late for him to draw back, and
he accordingly prepared for war. The senate declared him a public enemy,
although Aurelius even then expressed the hope that he might have the
opportunity of pardoning him. Deploring the necessity for taking up arms
against his trusted officer, Aurelius set out for the east. While in
Illyria, he received the news that Cassius had been slain by his own
officers. The murderers offered his head to Aurelius, who refused to
admit them, and ordered its immediate burial.

See Dio Cassius lxxi. 2-4, 17, 22-28, 30, 31; Fronto, _Letters_, i. 6;
Lives of Marcus Aurelius, Verus and Commodus in the _Scriptores
Historiae Augustae_, and the special biography of Avidius Cassius in
the same by Vulcacius Gallicanus. The various letters and documents in
the last-named are generally considered spurious, and the portions of
the narrative founded on them consequently untrustworthy. See also
article in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_, ii. pt. 2 (1896).

CASSIUS, GAIUS, Latin poet, general and politician, called Parmensis
from his birthplace Parma, was one of the murderers of Julius Caesar,
and after his death joined the party of Brutus and his namesake Cassius
the conspirator. In 43 B.C. he was in command of the fleet on the coast
of Asia, but after the battle of Philippi joined Sextus Pompeius in
Sicily. When Pompeius, having been defeated in a naval engagement at
Naulochus by the fleet of Octavian under Agrippa, fled to Asia, Cassius
went over to Antony, and took part in the battle of Actium (31). He
afterwards fled