Cinna

Cinna, ae, m., a family name of the gentes Cornelia and Helvia.

• I L. Cornelius Cinna, consul A.U.C. 667-670; a confederate of C. Marius in the Roman civil war with Sylla, Vell. 2, 20 sq.; Flor. 3, 21; Cic. Tusc. 5, 19, 54 and 55.—Hence, appel., a Cinna, a cruel warrior: tyrannum et Cinnam appellans, Sall. H. 1, 42 Dietsch.— Hence, Cinnānus, a, um, adj., of Cinna: partes, his party, adherents, Vell. 2, 24; Nep. Att. 2, 2: rabies, Flor. 4, 2, 2: tumultus, Nep. Att. 2, 2.—
• II Son of the preceding of the same name, a follower of Lepidus, and afterwards one of the assassins of Caesar, Suet. Caes. 5; 85; Val. Max. 9, 9, 1; cf. Cic. Phil. 3, 10, 26.—
• III Cn. Cinna Magnus, son of the preceding, pardoned by Augustus, Sen. Clem. 1, 9, 1.—
• IV C. Helvius Cinna, a Roman poet, friend of Catullus, the author of a poem, now lost, called Smyrna, Ov. Tr. 2, 435; Cat. 10, 30; 10, 95; 10, 96; Verg. E. 9, 35; Mart. 10, 21, 4; Plin. Ep. 5, 3, 5; Quint. 10, 4, 4 al.

Cinna, ae, m., röm. Familienname der Cornelii u. Helvii, unter dem bes. bekannt sind: I) L. Cornelius Cinna, der Genosse des C. Marius im Bürgerkriege gegen Sulla, Cic. Tusc. 5, 54 sq. Vell. 2, 20 sq.: berüchtigt durch seine Grausamkeit gegen die Gegenpartei, dah. appell. ein Cinna = ein grausamer Gegner, tyrannum et Cinnam appellans, Sall. hist. fr. 1, 42 (hist. fr. inc. 52). – Dav. Cinnānus, a, um, cinnanisch, partes, der Anhänger (die Partei) des Cinna, Nep. u. Vell.: tumultus, Nep.: cruor, die blutigen Zeiten Cinnas, Cic. – II) dessen Sohn L. Corn. Cinna, Anhänger des Lepidus u. später einer der Mörder Cäsars, Suet. Caes. 5 u. 85. Val. Max. 9, 9, 1; vgl. Cic. Phil. 3, 26. – u. III) dessen Sohn (von der Pompeja, des Pompejus Tochter) L. od. Cn. Cinna Magnus, von Augustus zweimal begnadigt, Sen. de clem. 1, 9, 1. – IV) C. Helvius Cinna, ein röm. Dichter, Freund des Katull, Catull. 10, 30. Verg. ecl. 1, 35. Plin. ep. 5, 3, 5.

1 Cinna, (11) æ, m. , ¶ 1 L. Cornelius Cinna [consul avec Marius] : Cic. Tusc. 5, 54 ¶ 2 conspirateur gracié par Auguste : Sen. Clem. 1, 9, 1 ¶ 3 Helvius Cinna [poète, ami de Catulle] : Catul. 10, 31.

2 Cinna, æ, f. , ville de la Dalmatie : Anton.

Cinna

(1) L. Cornelius. An adherent of Marius, who played a conspicuous part in the civil war between that leader and Sulla. Having attained to the consulship, after the proscription of Marius by his opponent, he began to exert himself for the recall of the former, and accused Sulla , who was just going as proconsul to Asia, of maladministration. That commander, however, took no notice of the complaint. After the departure of Sulla , he brought forward once more the law of Sulpicius, which admitted the Italians into all the thirty-five tribes without distinction. A savage riot ensued, numbers were slain, and Cinna , with his chief partisans, was driven from the city by his colleague Octavius. The Italian towns, regarding the cause of Cinna as their own, received him with the utmost cordiality. He collected thirty legions, called the proscribed to his support, and, with Marius, Sertorius, and Carbo , marched upon and took possession of Rome. A scene of bloodshed and lawless rapine now ensued, which has perhaps no parallel in ancient or modern times, and has deservedly procured for those who were the actors in it the unmitigated abhorrence of posterity. Cinna and Marius, by their own authority, now declared themselves consuls for the ensuing year; but Marius dying, after having held that office for only seventeen days, Cinna remained in effect the absolute master of Rome. During the space of three years after this victory of his, he continued to hold possession of the government at home, a period during which, as Cicero remarks, the Republic was without laws and without dignity. At length, however, Sulla , after terminating the war with Mithridates, prepared to march home with his army and punish his opponents. Cinna , with his colleague Carbo , resolved thereupon to cross the Adriatic, and anticipate Sulla by attacking him in Greece; but a mutiny of their troops ensued, in which Cinna was slain, B.C. 77. Haughty, violent, always eager for vengeance, addicted to debauchery, precipitate in his plans, but always displaying courage in their execution, Cinna attained to a power little less absolute than that afterwards held by Sulla or Caesar; and it is somewhat remarkable that he should be so little known that scarcely a single personal anecdote of him is to be found on record.

(2) One of the conspirators against Caesar ( Plut. Caes.).

(3) HelviusGaius . A Roman poet, intimate with Caesar, and tribune of the people at the time when the latter was assassinated. According to Plutarch, he went to attend the obsequies of Caesar, but being mistaken by the populace for Cinna the conspirator, was torn to pieces by them. Helvius composed a poem entitled Smyrna (or Zmyrna), on which he was employed nine or ten years. Four fragments of it have reached us. It appears to have been characterized by considerable obscurity of meaning until the grammarian Crassicius wrote an able commentary upon it (Suet. Gram. 18). Some other fragments have also reached us of other productions of this poet. They may be found in L. Müller's edition of Catullus (1870).