Longinus is the name associated with the Latin treatise commonly known as "On the Sublime," one of the most influential and perceptive works of literary criticism ever written.

There has been considerable dispute as to the author of On the Sublime. One Cassius Longinus, born about 210, was a critic, scholar, and teacher of rhetoric in the 3rd century and a friend and teacher of Porphyry, the pupil of Plotinus and author of many literary works. He also earned a reputation as the most famous scholar of his time. Educated at Alexandria, he probably taught at Athens and then traveled to Asia Minor as a minister of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. Along with Zenobia he is reported to have been executed by the Roman emperor Aurelian in 273 on charges of conspiring against the Roman state.

Some critics date the author of On the Sublime to the 1st century and...