L. Cornelius Cinna
Cinna, a Roman patrician family of the gens Cornelia.
The most prominent member was Lucius Cornelius Cinna, a supporter of
Marius in his contest with Sulla. After serving in the war with the Marsi as praetorian legate, he was elected consul in 87 BC.
Breaking the oath he had sworn to Sulla that he would not attempt any revolution
in the state, Cinna allied himself with Marius, raised an army of Italians,
and took possession of the city. Soon after his triumphant entry and the
massacre of the friends of Sulla, by which he had satisfied his vengeance,
Marius died. Lucius Valerius Flaccus became Cinna's colleague,
and on the murder of Flaccus, Cn. Papirius Carbo. In 84, however, Cinna, who
was still consul, was forced to advance against Sulla; but while embarking his
troops to meet him in Thessaly, he was killed in a mutiny.
His daughter
Cornelia was the wife of Julius Caesar, the dictator; but his son,
L. Cornelius Cinna, praetor ill 44 BC, nevertheless sided with
the murderers of Caesar and publicly extolled their action.
The hero of Pierre Corneille's tragedy Cinna (1640) was
Cn. Cornelius Cinna, surnamed Magnus (after his maternal grandfather Pompey), who was magnanimously pardoned by Augustus for conspiring against him.
Based on an article from a 1911 encyclopedia
Referenced By
List of Republican Roman Consuls | List of Roman consuls | List of the Roman Consuls
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