Gaius Cassius Longinus referred to as Cassius, was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of another leader of the conspiracy, he commanded troops with Brutus during the Battle of Philippi against the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's former supporters, committed suicide after being defeated by Mark Antony. Cassius was elected as a Tribune of the Plebs in 49 BC, he opposed Caesar, he commanded a fleet against him during Caesar's Civil War: after Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender. After Caesar's death, Cassius fled to the East, he was made Governor by the Senate. Though he and Brutus marched west against the allies of the Second Triumvirate, Cassius was defeated at the Battle of Phillippi and committed suicide, he followed the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, although scholars debate whether or not these beliefs affected his political life.

Cassius is a main character in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar that depicts the assassination of Caesar and its aftermath. He is shown in the lowest circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno as punishment for betraying and killing Caesar. Cassius Longinus came from a old Roman family, gens Cassia, prominent in Rome since the 6th century BC. Little is known of his early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of despots while still at school, by quarreling with the son of the dictator Sulla, he became fluent in Greek. He was married to Junia Tertia, the daughter of Servilia and thus a half-sister of his co-conspirator Brutus, they had one son, born in about 60 BC. In 54 BC Cassius joined Marcus Licinius Crassus in his eastern campaign against the Parthian Empire. In 53 BC Crassus suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Carrhae in Northern-Mesopotamia losing two-thirds of his army. Cassius led the remaining troops retreat back into Syria, organized an effective defense force for the province.

Based on Plutarch's account, the defeat at Carrhae could have been avoided had Crassus acted as Cassius had advised. According to Dio, the Roman soldiers, as well as Crassus himself, were willing to give the overall command to Cassius after the initial disaster in the battle, which Cassius "very properly" refused; the Parthians considered Cassius as equal to Crassus in authority, superior to him in skill. In 51 BC Cassius was able to ambush and defeat an invading Parthian army under the command of prince Pacorus and general Osaces, he first refused to do battle with the Parthians, keeping his army behind the walls of Antioch where he was besieged. When the Parthians gave up the siege and started to ravage the countryside he followed them with his army harrying them as they went; the decisive encounter came on October 7th. As they set about their return journey they were confronted by a detachment of Cassius' army, which faked a retreat and lured the Parthians into an ambush; the Parthians were surrounded by Cassius' main forces and defeated.

Their general Osaces died from his wounds, the rest of the Parthian army retreated back across the Euphrates. Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC, when civil war was about to break out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Cassius was elected tribune of the Plebs for 49 BC, threw in his lot with the Optimates, although his brother Lucius Cassius supported Caesar. Cassius left Italy shortly, he met Pompey in Greece, was appointed to command part of his fleet. In 48 BC, Cassius sailed his ships to Sicily, where he attacked and burned a large part of Caesar's navy, he proceeded to harass ships off the Italian coast. News of Pompey's defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus caused Cassius to head for the Hellespont, with hopes of allying with the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II. Cassius was overtaken by Caesar en route, was forced to surrender unconditionally. Caesar made Cassius a legate, employing him in the Alexandrian War against the same Pharnaces whom Cassius had hoped to join after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus.

However, Cassius refused to join in the fight against Cato and Scipio in Africa, choosing instead to retire to Rome. Cassius spent the next two years in office, tightened his friendship with Cicero. In 44 BC, he became praetor peregrinus with the promise of the Syrian province for the ensuing year; the appointment of his junior and brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus, as praetor urbanus offended him. Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot against Caesar, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of tyrannicide, Brutus became their leader. On the Ides of March, 44 BC, Cassius struck Caesar in the chest. Though they succeeded in assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived, as Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against them. In letters written during 44 BC, Cicero complains that Rome was still subjected to tyranny, because the "Liberators" had failed to kill Antony. According to some accounts, Cassius had wanted to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but Brutus dissuaded him.

Cassius' reputation in the East made it easy to amass an army from other governors in the area, by 43 BC he was ready to take on Publius Cornelius Dolabella with 12 legions. By this point the Senate had split with Antonius, cast its lot with Cassius, confirming him as governor of the province. Dolabella at

Heinrich Greif was a German actor and social activist. Heinrich Greif was born 11 March 1907 in Dresden. Since 1926, he studied in the studio at the theater Volksbühne under the direction of Erwin Piscator. In 1933 he joined the Communist Party of Germany. After the Nazis rise to power led to party and trade union work being made illegal he published a theater magazine Rampa. Soon, he emigrated to Switzerland. In 1934–1935 the theater played in Zurich to Moscow, where he worked until 1945 as chief editor of the German edition of Radio Moscow and acted in films. In 1945 he returned to Germany. Played in Deutsches Theater, worked in the administration of culture in Dresden, he died 16 July 1946 in Berlin during a hernia operation at the clinic Charité. The operation was carried out by the head of surgical department of 71-year-old Ferdinand Sauerbruch. By this time Sauerbruch showed symptoms of cerebral sclerosis, mistakes were made during the routine operation that caused the death of the actor. In 1951 the German Democratic Republic was approved Heinrich Greif Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of cinema.

Heinrich Greif on IMDb

Sarawanabavanandan Shanmuganathan was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant and Member of Parliament. Shanmuganathan was born on 16 May 1960, he was a Hindu. He was a senior member of the militant People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, serving as its commander in Vavuniya. Shanmuganathan was member of Vavuniya Urban Council, he contested the 1994 parliamentary election as one of the Democratic People's Liberation Front's candidates in Vanni District and was elected to Parliament. Shanmuganathan was killed by a claymore mine in Irambaikkulam, Vavuniya District on 15 July 1998; the assassination was blamed on the rival rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. However, the pro-LTTE TamilNet claimed that Shanmuganathan had been the victim of an internal conflict within the PLOTE