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.
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. 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 as his junior colleague. He was assigned to Gaul to oppose the migration of a confederation of Germanic tribes. He was killed in an ambush at the Battle of Burdigala, modern-day Bordeaux, along with 10,000 of his legionaries. 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.
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.
