Editing Spurius Cassius Vecellinus (section)

==Background==
His surname variously appears as Vecellinus, Vicellinus, and Viscellinus. The latter has been shown to be incorrect, and Vecellinus is usually preferred. The otherwise unattested name may be a reference to a Mount Vecilius mentioned by Livy.<ref>M. Hertz (1871), "Das Cognomen des Sp. Cassius", ''Hermes'' vol. 5 no. 3, pp. 474–475</ref><ref>Münzer, [[s:de:RE:Cassius 91|Cassius 91]], ''RE'' 3.2, col. 1749</ref><ref>Ogilvie, ''Livy 1–5'' (Oxford), pp. 277–278</ref><ref>''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', "[https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1426 Cassius Vecellinus, Spurius]"</ref>

According to one tradition, Cassius' father was still living and hale at the time of his death. If this were the case, it would be difficult to place Cassius' birth much earlier than 540 or 535 BC. Cassius also left behind him three sons, whose names have not been preserved.  It is believed that the original Cassii were patricians, although the later members of the [[gens]] occurring in history were all [[plebeian]]. The historian [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]] suggests that Cassius' sons may have been expelled by the patricians from their order, or that they or their descendants may have voluntarily passed over to the plebeians, because the patricians had shed the blood of their father.<ref>''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''.</ref><ref>''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], Editor.</ref><ref name=Niebuhr-2.166>[[Barthold Georg Niebuhr]], ''History of Rome'', vol. ii, pp.&nbsp;166ff; ''Lectures on the History of Rome'', pp.&nbsp;89ff, ed. Schmitz (1848).</ref>