Tragedy by Pierre Corneille, first performed 1641. Inspired by his love for Émilie, whose father has been killed by the Roman emperor Augustus (Auguste), Cinna leads a plot against Auguste's life, and persists in it even when he and his fellow conspirator Maxime have been consulted by the blood-weary emperor, who wants to abdicate. The conspiracy is betrayed by Maxime, who is vainly in love with Émilie. Helped by the advice of his wife, Livie, Auguste conquers the impulse to have the conspirators executed. His clemency wins the hearts of Cinna, Maxime, and even the irreducible Émilie, and the play ends on a note of moral and political apotheosis.
[Peter France]
