Cossinius

Lucius Antonius Cossinius
First appearance	S3E01: Enemies of Rome
Last appearance	S3E01: Enemies of Rome
Profession	Praetor
Race	Roman
Relationships	Furius (Tribune, deceased) Mummius (Soldier, deceased) Metellus (Ally)
Status	Deceased (Killed by Spartacus)
Actor/Actress	John Wraight

Cossinius is a Praetor of the Roman Republic. He replaces Glaber, Varinius and Scrofa in charge of stopping Spartacus and his Rebel army. Furius serves as his military tribune.

Appearance

Cossinius has short swept black hair, and light stubble. He is of muscular build and is taller than most of the men under his command.

Personality

Like most Romans, he believes himself better than others, simply because he is Roman. He, like others before him, see Spartacus as nothing more than a simple slave. He also holds himself in high respect, due to his rank in the senate.

War of the Damned

Cossinius and his tribune, Furius, are in charge of defeating Spartacus and his army’s. However, they keep losing due to lack of accurate information on the numbers of Spartacus’ army’s. He is first seen during their latest battle, retreating after another defeat. Despite having

Cossinius watches his troops.

little love for the man, he sends word to Marcus Licinius Crassus asking for ten thousand troops to help in the war effort. In return, they offer Marcus a command. Spartacus’ men intercept the message informing them of the reinforcement’s and decide to act before they have to deal with two armies. Spartacus uses this information and sends Agron with most of their forces while he, Gannicus, and Crixus sneak in to assassinate him and Furius. Furius is suspicious about the Rebel movement and tells Cossinius that it isn’t like Spartacus to make a reckless move. As he is saying this, Spartacus comes out of the shadows and attacks their remaining forces. Cossinius refuses to escape, saying that he refuses to run away from Spartacus again. Spartacus corners them and fights both of them at once. He quickly disarms them and points a

Spartacus Kills Cossinius and Furius.

sword at each of their throats. Cossinius admits defeat and asks Spartacus for his terms of surrender. Spartacus tells him that there is nothing a Roman could offer that he would believe. With that said, he be-heads both. Spartacus has their heads planted on spikes where all their remaining forces can see, causing many of them to flee in panic.

Marcus Licinius Crassus replaces Cossinius to stop Spartacus. His son, Tiberius, figured out that this was intended to happen, that Marcus planned to have them removed so he could lead. Marcus admits to his son that he knew that Spartacus would attack if he intercepted the message, because that’s what he would have done.

After the takeover of Sinuessa, Spartacus realized he played right into Crassus' hands by giving way for him to take charge in the pursuit of the rebellion.

Historical Context

Lucius Cossinius was a military tribune under the command of Publius Varinius, alongside Lucius Furius and Gaius Toranius. In late 73 BC, Publius was sent to quell Spartacus' rebellion after the defeat of Glaber at Mount Vesuvius. Varinius had split his forces, sending Cossinius and Furius to scout out the rebel army.

While bathing at his villa, Cossinius was ambushed by rebel forces, but managed to evade capture. Varinius' forces were eventually beaten in battle. It is unknown if Cossinius or Furius were killed during the rebellion or survived.

Trivia

• Dialogue throughout Enemies of Rome reveals that he has been the most difficult commander for Spartacus to have faced since Glaber and Varinius (mainly because he and Furius continuously retreated from battle along with their men). Despite this, Cossinius and his forces had yet to win a battle against him.
• Cossinius' specific praetorship would have been that of a Praetor Peregrinus, who possessed Imperium (high military command) in order to command an army.
• Cossinius would have belonged to the Plebeian Gens Cossinius, who came from the town of Tibur (modern Tivoli) in the region of Latium (modern Lazio, Italy).

Quotes

• "Name terms of surrender?"

-to Spartacus

References

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