#cinna the conspirator

[minutia-r]

Happy Ides of March to all who celebrate! Here's my Cinna the poet/Cinna the conspirator sonnet:

But mightier than these, both pen and sword— Though you may make Rome's streets run red with blood And I, with one precisely chosen word, Can float your name untouched above the flood— Is time, but not the blind, remorseless foe Who crushes all beneath his sandaled feet Inevitable as empire, and as slow For in the end, the race goes to the fleet. No pen is quick enough to catch your breath The way it catches quick against my skin; No dagger's keen enough to deal the death That, in the dying moment, dies again: Each one a Rubicon. The die is cast, And, worse than senseless, slips into the past.

(on AO3)

[nourtarts]

and most underrated characters award goes to…

i love cinna and by extension portia. i think they represent a lot of really important things, chief of which is the power of art to move and inspire people. i also loved his relationship with katniss :( while i really love lenny kravitz’s portrayal of cinna i always envisioned him as much younger when reading the books 😅 a sort of recently graduated design student type. where portia is concerned, i took a lot of inspiration from the movie actually!

[shrike-wasteland]

Sejanus and Coriolanus as a name

Sejanus was a Roman soldier, who was eventually executed for treason.

Sejanus Plinth was a peacekeeper, nicknamed 'Bullseye' for his great marksmanship, who was a rebel and eventually executed for conspiring treason against the capitol.

Roman Sejanus was a friend of the emperor but this didn't help him in his time of need, Sejanus Plinth became 'friends' with Coriolanus who ended up betraying him and leading to his death.

Coriolanus' name comes from a Shakespearean play- and a historic Roman figure- a tragedy with the hubris of power. we see the fatal flaw in the play to be his pride, never allowing the people to be heard.

both of these names have Roman heritage, linking them together but the meanings are fused with tragedy, Coriolanus is a tragic play [not historic as it isn't English history] and Sejanus was a rebel who was betrayed. lots of the Capitol names have either Roman or Grecian influence, Tigiris is Latin, Cinna is Greek, [although Cinna is also Shakespearean, he was a poet in Ceaser, conspiring against the tyrannic ruler] this shows a highbrow attitude the capitol have in naming their children.

i have always thought they would name their child something historic for the brag-ability of the cultured name, the way we see with the upper class and celebrities, these names are unnatural to us, something foreign to a casual name like John or Sarah.

the district born characters [like Sejanus] also have 'odd' names, but alot are through the ties to their district, unlike Sejanus, who's name is a possible illusion to his Ma not fully believing in the wealth of the capitol unlike his father.

this is just a fraction of my thoughts on these names!!! i will be writing more!!!

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Senatorial-totally-not-conspiratorial beauty contest, bonus round for those who did not make it into the main poll. Gellius was not a senator at the time of the totally-unrelated-event, but he became one later so he is included by popular request. His brother is included by analogy.

[spacecowboywhit]

CaesarFacts for the Ides of March

The Julii family claimed to trace their origins to a son of Aeneas after the fall of Troy, making them direct descendants of the goddess Aphrodite/Venus.

Caesar grew up and kept his main residence all his life in the Suburra, the poorest neighborhood of Rome, famous for its sex workers, immigrants, gang violence, theft, and crime.

As a youth, Caesar ran with a fashionable counter-culture group. They wore their togas "loosely belted in a feminine fashion, with fringe trailing on the ground". Basically, Roman punks in torn jean jackets and safety pins.

During the notoriously bloody dictatorship of Sulla, Caesar chose to marry Cornelia, the daughter of Sulla's enemy, Cinna. Caesar was only saved by the intervention of his mother's family and the Vestals.

Not wanting to be in Rome, he took a diplomatic post in Bithynia. A short post turned into a long one, as he became... very close... to King Nicomedes and moved into the palace. Caesar was called the "Queen of Bithynia" there and in Rome. Later, King Nicomedes willed Bythinia to Rome, care of Caesar, as Good Friends(tm) do.

On his way back to Rome, he was captured by pirates and held for ransom. Caesar was insulted that they only asked 20 talents of silver for him and demanded that his ransom be set to 50.

On the way to being exchanged, he was obnoxiously relaxed and friendly with the pirates, writing poetry at them and joking about how he was going to raise a navy and crucify them all. Upon being released, he did indeed raise a navy and crucify them all.

Despite being a patrician, Caesar was not super wealthy early in life. He funded his early political career by borrowing extreme amounts of money. Cleverly, this made his lenders realize that the only way he could pay them back was to have a successful career and win elections, forcing them to back him beyond the loans.

Cornelia died young, and Caesar married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla, the dictator who wanted him dead. They kept it close in Rome.

Caesar divorced Pompeia after the Bona Dea scandal, in which the senator Clodius Pulcher crossdressed to sneak into a sacred, women-only holy ritual being hosted by Pompeia.

Caesar was quite possibly a slutty, slutty bisexual horndog. The gossip called him "every woman's husband and every man's wife". This just makes me want to high-five him though.

In the aftermath of the Catiline Conspiracy, Cato the Younger was arguing to the Senate that Caesar should be tried, since he was friendly with several conspirators. A message arrived for Caesar and Cato demanded it be read aloud in case relevant. It was from Cato's sister, thanking Caesar for their recent, vigorous lovemaking. Caesar was not tried.

Caesar was apparently an accomplished poet, though none of his works survive. His prose is excellent though, so it's not a stretch to imagine.

Besides being consul and ultimately dictator, he was also high priest of Jupiter as a youth and later Pontifex Maximus, the ultimate high priest of Rome, for the last 20 years of his life. Normally, the elected priesthoods were a complete political dead end due to a lot of restrictions on the office. Not being able to look at blood or touch weapons puts a damper on military success, for example. Caesar used his legal expertise to find loopholes to those restrictions, which let him continue his career.

[cuneiformkey]

The ides of March was a riot, and Julius Caesar was a brawler.

Mark Twain:

Instantly seizing upon this shallow pretext for a fight, Casca sprang at Caesar and struck him with a dirk, Caesar grabbing him by the arm with his right hand, and launching a blow straight from the shoulder with his left, that sent the reptile bleeding to the earth. He then backed up against Pompey’s statue, and squared himself to receive his assailants. Cassias and Cimber and Cinna rushed upon him with their daggers drawn, and the former succeeded in inflicting a wound upon his body; but before he could strike again, and before either of the others could strike at all, Caesar stretched the three miscreants at his feet with as many blows of his powerful fist. By this time the Senate was in an indescribable uproar; the throng of citizens in the lobbies had blockaded the doors in their frantic efforts to escape from the building, the sergeant-at-arms and his assistants were struggling with the assassins, venerable senators had cast aside their encumbering robes, and were leaping over benches and flying down the aisles in wild confusion toward the shelter of the committee-rooms, and a thousand voices were shouting “Po-lice! Po-lice!” in discordant tones that rose above the frightful din like shrieking winds above the roaring of a tempest. And amid it all great Caesar stood with his back against the statue, like a lion at bay, and fought his assailants weaponless and hand to hand, with the defiant bearing and the unwavering courage which he had shown before on many a bloody field. Billy Trebonius and Caius Legarius struck him with their daggers and fell, as their brother-conspirators before them had fallen. But at last, when Caesar saw his old friend Brutus step forward armed with a murderous knife, it is said he seemed utterly overpowered with grief and amazement, and, dropping his invincible left arm by his side, he hid his face in the folds of his mantle and received the treacherous blow without an effort to stay the hand that gave it. He only said, “Et tu, Brute?” and fell lifeless on the marble pavement.

[spectralscrypt]

Now, Brutus! now, Cassius!

Now, Casca and Cinna!

On, Decimus! on, Trebonius!

On, Metellus and Cimber!

To the steps of the Senate!

To the halls of Rome!

Conspire away! Conspire away all!

Conspire all!

(T'was the ides of March)

Conspire all!

(T'was the ides of March)

[eighttwotwopointthreethree]

who lives, who dies, who tells your story: a write up of new swan shakespeare's julius caesar

it's been a while since i watched a live production of shakespeare! and i hadn't really expected to spend this interval of my summer doing so, but the new swan shakespeare festival at UCI was doing julius caesar, which, if you know anything about this blog, is like my number one most favourite shakespeare play. so of course i had to go see it. and you can go see it, too, if you're in socal, alongside their production of as you like it, and the complete works of shakespeare (abridged) (which, if you've ever seen the reduced shakespeare company's filmed version, is really hilarious).

why is julius caesar my favourite play? i mean, besides the homoeroticism in the text between brutus and cassius (#brutecass4lyfe), julius caesar to me is just one of the most human of tragedies, one of the most prescient political dramas ever done. back in 2017, shakespeare in the park did a JC production that, controversially, portrayed the man as a donald trump-type figure. and you know what, they've got a point. julius caesar was a populist. literally, his faction was called the populares; he claimed to represent the will of the people, but ultimately was taking power for himself.

granted, brutus and cassius themselves were not scrappy revolutionaries trying to change the world for the better, for all that brutus likes to cloak himself in honour and high-minded ideals. their faction, the optimates, were of the ruling class in rome. they represented the people in power who disliked caesar's broader appeal. shakespeare (via cribbing from plutarch) points out that many of the optimates were simply mad they did not seize power the way caesar had. cassius was indeed born as free as caesar, with as many of the privileges and ruling rights as caesar; why should cassius bend the knee to caesar when the bitch can't even swim?

brutus, idealist that he is, also could not justify bending the knee. he did not want to lose his own power, though he couches it in shakespeare as a wish to remain free. it's through brutus' rhetoric about freedom that we get the idea of brutus and cassius as revolutionaries, when in truth all they wanted was to return to the pre-caesar status quo. and when they determined that the best way to usher in the revolution is through violence and bloodshed, they set forth the main tragedy of the play: that a revolution begun in blood will end in blood. we've seen this play out throughout the centuries: the french revolution, the russian revolution, pretty much every violent coup that ends in repressive regimes. as long as there are despots, there will be fodder for julius caesar productions. (cassius was onto something when he wondered how many times their actions would be played out in the future "in states unborn and accents yet unknown"!)

this timelessness was felt in the new swan production. the costuming was at parts roman-inspired, though not all the way through--people wore tunics reminiscent of southeast asian clothing, or hoods and masks, or--in the second half of the play--military camo atop their tunics marking their allegiances. one notable setting was the one for octavian and antony's conversation, set in what looked like a public bath. another notable costuming choice was caesar's majestic outfits--flowing, regal, queenlike.

the production notes mentioned a deliberate casting decision of 50-50 male-female roles, with antony, caesar, and cassius notably played as female, with their pronouns changed in the text to refer to them as female. calpurnia, caesar's wife, is taken out of the text and her lines given to lepidus instead, and the characters refer to him as caesar's husband--which does cause an interesting dynamic when lepidus says non-calpurnia lines in the bathhouse scene with antony and octavian. other roles were also condensed--cinna the conspirator was taken out of the text except in the scene with cinna the poet, titinius (our beloved plothole man) had his lines given to metellus cimber, and some of strato's lines were given to casca. also, strato's role in holding brutus' sword is entirely excised, which means that brutus stabs himself at the end, rather than implicate someone else in his death.

all in all, these changes led to a tighter-paced production, where the side characters like casca and metellus cimber were given more of a character arc than in the original. giving titinius' role to metellus cimber, for example, made cassius' death make more sense, because there was already established rapport between metellus cimber and cassius in the first part. (i would argue that in this production casca and cassius had more chemistry, though...)

another notable doubling choice was giving caesar's actor the lines for cinna the poet. i think that was striking for the production, because it made cinna the poet's death at the hands of the mob have a striking implication for this caesar's. who deserves to die, and who was just an innocent caught at the mercy of mob justice? was it only cinna? or was it caesar and cinna? if you ask mark antony, of course, she would say it was both of them. this production's mark antony did an excellent job in taking control of the narrative after caesar's death. i'm used to JC productions going to intermission after caesar's burial, but new swan deciding to do so after the dogs of war monologue certainly told me that that was the turning point--that by letting antony have any share in the narrative, brutus had signed the death warrant for his ~perfectly justified~ revolution. his idealism--his persistence in "civility" and "playing fair", was his fatal flaw.

a couple other scattered thoughts:

i could see that the production was more firmly on the 'bromance' side of the brutecass debate.

which, fair, yes, that is how people have traditionally read the dynamic, but i'm always a good sucker for a cassius obsessed with brutus to the point of dragging him down the path of destruction with her, and would love to see a bit more of this cassius' manipulative ability.

this cassius is fiery, sarcastic, and i do love the way she sinks to her knees in the tent scene when she offers her heart for brutus to stab, but...

i don't think this brutus is quite picking up what cassius is setting down. he's a liiiiiittle bit too heavy on the stoicism. the passion that he showed portia in her ONE scene with him? that's what i would have liked to see out of him in the tent scene, and in that forever and forever farewell cassius scene.

maybe i've just got deranged brutecass brainrot, but i do feel like the devotion that the two characters express to one another in the text itself is part of shakespeare's sympathetic portrayal of them.

i mean, otherwise, all we've got of cassius and brutus is that dante thinks they're such horrible betrayers that they're now forever being chewed on by satan in the ninth circle of hell, next to judas freaking iscariot. brutus and cassius are, as far as classic lit is concerned, sharing the afterlife together.

that's why their devotion to one another in shakespeare's play is so compelling. it's like cassius' one redeeming feature, that he's so unerringly loyal to brutus and only thinks the best of him. while brutus allowed himself to be seduced into cassius' conspiracy, and his own devotion to honour ends up signing away their lives.

and yet when cassius tries to warn him against letting antony take control of the narrative, cassius was still too in love with brutus to actually put his foot down and say no and stop it.

also this production's portia stole the show. in her one scene she was just incredible. badass. girlboss. 100/10 no notes.

according to the dramaturg, who was sitting near us during this showing, this show's caesar was an understudy because the other actor got covid? you literally couldn't tell because this caesar was spectacular. such mean girl energy. regina george would've been proud.

anyway, go see the production! or go see new swan's as you like it, or the complete (abridged) works of shakespeare. there's plenty of showings for the rest of this summer, and you'll be in for some solid acting and good fun.

[strangelittlelad]

rest in peace Cinna the poet all he did was make bad rhymes and have the same name as Cinna the conspirator :[

[3fluffies]

Fic Update: Favors (Hunger Games AU)

Favors. AU from the end of the 74th Hunger Games. After the two-winner rule is revoked, Peeta takes his own life before Katniss can stop him. Her grief-driven words over his body still defy the Capitol and endanger everyone left that she loves. Haymitch and the other victors struggle to help her navigate the dark, dangerous world of mentoring and forced prostitution…and in the end, she still becomes the Mockingjay.

Chapter 42: Remember Our Past: Delly Cartwright works on persuading Hazelle and Gale Hawthorne to join the exodus, and the victors struggle to conspire amid the Capitol's sordid entertainment. Katniss learns of Cinna and the other stylists' plans to launch rebellion from within the Capitol, Madge and Rory experience tribute training, and Haymitch finds himself crossing a line he never expected.

Enjoy! Discussion and debate joyfully welcomed, as are questions and criticism of all kinds!  Feedback! My kingdom for feedback!

I've now posted my Original Character Master List to the end of this series, identifying all the OCs who appear in any story narrative.  I'll be updating it with each chapter of the various stories.  

[eventiderpg]

The State of the Stylists

Once again Panem is glued to their screens. Unbeknownst to The Capitol and its Districts, the same image is being broadcasted to District Thirteen's televisions. Additionally, captives of Panem's government had a hologram wheeled into their prison block earlier in the morning. Now, they see the faces of two whose cries they've all become familiar with.

The air is tense as exactly one month after The Victors' Purge, the country is seeing two, prominent stylists face a similar fate. Cinna and Portia Lux are standing tall. After spending the last year in adoration, it seems that time has come to an end. They're donning matching red ensembles, Cinna in a fiery suit and Portia in a gown. The former has a white rose situated in his jacket pocket; the latter has one in her hair. They look united as they hold hands.

President Coriolanus Snow is on the same platform, standing at a podium in a pristine, white suit. His expression matches the somberness of the situation. The President of Panem takes a deep breath before speaking.

"It's been forty eight days since the Rebel insurgency caused a panic within the arena. Their treachery has not ceased. In fact, they've proven time and time again that they will continue upping their brutalization of the innocent citizens of our great nation. Districts Eight and Eleven have been their most recent targets, with Katniss Everdeen leading with her sonorous war cry.

For the safety of the people of Panem, parties guilty of treason cannot go unpunished. To do so would enforce a message that the actions do not hold the unbearable weight that they actively amass. With a heavy heart, I acknowledge that the two individuals standing here not only conspired alongside Katniss Everdeen and her band of rebels, but have the audacity to seem smug about such actions.

Cinna and Portia Lux, I ask you: has our nation been so horrid to you to inspire such acts? Panem has spent great time idolizing you both, only for the pair of you to spit on those who only aspired to gift you reverence. Before receiving the sentencing for your war crimes, are there any final words either of you would like to share?"

Cinna fixes his posture before taking one step forward. His hand doesn't leave Portia's. Not many have known the terror or torture that both stylists have faced. Many were convinced that Portia Lux just disappeared. There's a comfort for Cinna, knowing that they've stayed by each other's side through it all. He takes Snow's challenge for what it is.

"I never cared to be popular, President Snow. I cared about doing what's right. I knew what I have done might ruffle feathers, but I don't regret it. I will not grovel for you or a corrupt jury of people. I stand with the Mockingjay. I stand with the Rebellion. Forever and always, until my dying breath."

Portia's eyes weren't on Snow, or at anyone else. They are on Cinna. And she can't believe what she is hearing. Or maybe she should. After all, she isn't the one that has done anything wrong, at least not in her opinion.

"But what about me? Where was I in all your thoughts about this rebellion Cinna? Me, your partner. I thought you trusted me, and yet you couldn't even tell me about this. You've dragged me into this when I've done nothing wrong. You know I've done nothing wrong, and yet you stand there okay with letting me take the fall for war crimes alongside you. So much for you loving me."

And at that point she drops his hand, taking a step away. They had shown a unified approach. The stylists from 12, who had risen in fame together. But Portia wasn't going to allow Cinna to also take her down to her death. Not when she hadn't done anything wrong. That was when she finally turned her attention back to Snow, though her words were more panicked now, almost as if she thought it would still be too late.

"No...no... I won't stand for this.... I won't let him drag me down too....I denounce it..... them... all of it.... they are traitors...... but I'm not..... "

President Snow raises his palm, as the small crowd at the execution gasp and stay wide-eyed at the scene between the two partners. It effectively silences those there as tension rises. Practiced perfection means his face does not falter, even if inwardly he feels gleeful at what had just transpired.

"Unlike the Rebels, Panem does not stand for unnecessary violence. While those in District Thirteen would be trigger happy to slaughter, such a hedonistic desire for savagery is only for barbaric individuals. Forgiveness is powerful. For those watching who toe the line and even those who have turned directly to the Insurgents, know it still isn't too late. Let Miss Lux be an example for you. Choose peace. Choose our great nation. Miss Lux, please follow me off stage. Peacekeepers, you may begin implementing Mr. Cinna's sentence."

The President and the former stylist leave the stage peacefully while peacekeepers storm it. Whether on a screen or halo, the audience watches as Cinna is executed by firing squad. The now deceased man's words ring true, as before shots are fired, he raises his arm to give the defiant, Mockingjay salute as his final act of rebellion.

With our Mockingjay era plot drops, these will be similar to the Claudius and Caesar updates. You are absolutely welcome to write a self-para or actively do threads in relation to this plot drop! If you choose to roleplay this on the dash, please tag your threads with both #eventideevent04 as well as #eventidesots. Though this event takes place on day forty eight, our players are now welcome to roleplay up to day forty nine.

This plot drop does not effectively pause time in the roleplay. It does however signify that we are getting closer to the rescue mission in this era. Later this week, a poll will be released to figure out what date would be best to start the rescue objective.

As always, thank you for your patience. Thank you for still being here with us in EVENTIDERPG. Our RPG is better with you in it. Happy roleplaying!

[midwestofcalifornia]

In honor of the ides of March, who would you cast as who, if glee did a play of Julius Caesar? 🤨

okay i'm not good at providing deep and meaningfull analysis but here it is. I think this ended up being more like who would be each character in this situation rather than just if they were putting it up as a play but anyway ...

First of all . Rachel is Julius Caesar 😭 i feel like she understands very well what it's like to aspire for complete control and admiration from everyone, so she's a perfect pick to me. Then, we have Kurt as Brutus and Santana as Cassius, as i think Santana is definitely more likely to start conspiring and rooting for Rachel's downfall, while Kurt's betrayal would be the one that would hurt Rachel the most (et tu, Kurt?).

Then we have Antony, and i actually had a bit of a hard time figuring out who would play him best ,, but ultimately i think it could be Blaine, as he and Rachel tend to clash way less than Rachel and Kurt (or Santana), which leads to him seeing the best in her and being more likely to defend her.

Lastly we have Brittany as Helvius Cinna and Quinn as Lucius Cinna because idk it just makes sense that Quinn would support the assasination.

[navree]

the real question is what side would you be on, if you had witnessed infamous ides of march ??

You have no idea how tough a question this is for me specifically for soooooo many reasons

Pros of being a conspirator - I am French, any action against Julius Caesar is an automatic W for me in favor of our dear departed Vercingétorix (plus I was a chronic Astérix reader as a little kid when I was in France over the summers), tyrannicide is inherently moral because autocratic single person rule is not something I'm a fan of, in general I also quite like democracy, get to be a part of one of history's greatest group projects. Also Antony annoys the shit out of me so being opposed to him would be nice.

Cons of being a conspirator - I like reading about Augustus so I'm partial to his sides in conflicts on a personal level, the Cinna the poet vs Cinna the conspirator debacle is a bit of a turnoff, speaking of the aforementioned Augustus when the grieving hyper-intelligent teenager with all of Caesar's money and connections and personally loyal soldiers rocks up to Rome saying "hey people who murdered my father figure I'm gonna kill every single one of you and leave your families destitute no matter how long it takes me" and starts amassing a lot of popularity and power to get that done I would like to not be a part of the dead people group as I like not being dead, Ides of March had noble intentions but so spectacularly backfired almost immediately by being a direct cause for the rise of autocratic single person rule in the Western world and I can't have that on my conscience both morally and also because that's one of history's biggest Ls. Also Cicero annoys the shit out of me so being opposed to him would be nice.

You see my dilemma.

I'm gonna be on the seer's side, I'm staying out of it, I'm an unbiased witness who's just gonna whistle on through and go about my day and hopefully not die.

[unexaggerateddumbass]

Cinna the poet being killed because he had the same name as cinna the conspirator is SO funny. Can you imagine if it was 1865 and someone told you their name was John and an angry mob appeared to rip him to shreds like "WHAT IS YOUR TRUE NAME??? JOHN??? JOHN WILKES BOOTHE???"

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Wait. It just clicked that Pompeia Magna (the daughter of Pompey, who once told her father to go die in the Troyan war) was married two times:

Faustus Sulla;

Cinna the conspirator (who likely was not really a conspirator in 44 bce but he proclaimed believing in their beliefs once Caesar was dead). He was also one of the few people proscribed twice, participated in the rebellion of Lepidus-Brutus 78 bce and then joined Sertorius.

[catchupwithbj]

Caesar ignores his only hope??

In act ll, scene lll of “The Tradgedy of Julius Caesar” a loyal follower of Caesars, Artemidorus prepares a letter that warns Caesar of the conspiracists and their plans to kill Caesar. In this letter he lists each conspirator and tells Caesar to look out for all of them. “Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna, trust not Trebonius: mark well Metellus Cimber: Decius Brutus loves thee not” (Julius Caesar, 2.3.1121-1124) after reading his letter Artemidorus states, “If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live; If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.” (Julius Caesar, 2.3.1134-1135) unfortunately, Caesar never received this letter…

This scene reminds me a lot of when people try to warn someone that the crowd of people they hang around are no good but they never listen. The person is always a bright kind individual that deserves better people around them. “My heart laments that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation.” (Julius Caesar, 2.3.1132-1134) It seems like no matter how good they are there’s always some people determined to change them for the worst. it’s a hard and anxious thing to watch unfold. You can try to warn the person over and over again but they always feel like they know their friends and trust them when it’s really quite the opposite. Then after trying so hard to warn them it finally happens, they get betrayed. You feel bad because you truly tried to help them but in the end it’s their own fault for ignoring everyone’s warnings.