Gaius Cassius Longinus (Shakespeare)

Cassius is the most shrewd and active member of the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. He functions in some respects as the conspirators’ leader, although Brutus later takes this role. Both Cassius and Brutus are concerned by Caesar’s rise to power, but Cassius’s motivations are not nearly as honorable as Brutus’s. While Brutus worries about what Caesar’s power could mean for the Roman people, Cassius resents how Caesar has become a god-like figure. Further, Cassius repeatedly suggests that tyrants come to power when the people allow their power to be stolen. At the heart of his resentment and willingness to assassinate is Cassius’s deep jealousy of Caesar’s rise to power.