Cinna

Family: Roman conspirators · Role: conspirator · First appears: Julius Caesar · Act I, Scene III

At Pompey’s Porch in Act I, Scene III, Cinna is a friend of Caius Cassius and goes to find him on the conspirators’ fearful night. Caius Cassius assigns him to place papers where Marcus Brutus will find them and then return to Pompey’s Porch; Cinna also urges Caius Cassius to win Marcus Brutus to their party. His relationship with Julius Caesar is hostile, though Caesar treats him as a patron, asking him to call and remain near him.

In Act II, Cinna joins the conspirators’ decision that Julius Caesar must die while Mark Antony should be spared. After Caesar’s death, Cinna proclaims, “Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!” Mark Antony counts him among Caesar’s foes, while Julius Caesar is also presented in relation to him as an enemy.

That night, citizens mistake Cinna for the conspirator Cinna and attack him. Though he insists, “I am Cinna the poet,” they kill him because of his name and accuse him of conspiracy.