Cassius is a noble Roman, and the mastermind behind Caesar’s assassination.
He observes people and takes little enjoyment from life other than what allows for a sardonic smile. He is pettily jealous of Caesar for being, as he sees it, a weaker human being than he is himself, and despises those who make him out to be almost a god. He plays on Brutus’s honor and descent from the Brutus who freed Rome from monarchy to have him join him in murdering Caesar. Once he has succeeded in doing so, however, he quickly loses his place at the head of the conspiracy to Brutus. He agrees to Brutus’s willingness to let Antony live, and his later letting Antony speak to the crowd, but with deep misgivings. He and Brutus fall out further during the war over a series of miscommunications over financing, but they reconcile themselves. He considers himself a better soldier than Brutus, and his instinct not to bring the fight to the enemy is the right one, but again he allows Brutus’s arguments to sway him. He grows superstitious at the war goes on, despite his previous scoffing at omens. Convinced that all is lost when his army is beaten by Antony’s, and that Brutus has also been defeated, he has his bondman kill him, thus dying as he had promised to rather than be captured.