leader of the Marian party in Rome who opposed Lucius Cornelius Sulla.

After serving in the Social War (90–88), Cinna became consul in 87. When Sulla left Rome to fight Mithradates VI, king of Pontus, in the East, Cinna repealed Sulla's laws and threatened him with prosecution. Cinna's proposed revival of a bill of Publius Sulpicius Rufus (for the equal distribution of the newly enfranchised Italians among all the 35 tribes) caused riots and led to his expulsion from the city. He collected an army and, together with Marius, captured Rome. Executions of Sulla's supporters followed.

The death of Marius in January 86 left Cinna in control, and he remained consul, with Lucius Valerius Flaccus in 86 and with Gnaeus Papirius Carbo in 85–84. During this period Cinna enacted economic reforms and began enforcement of the Sulpician voting rights measure. In 84 he prepared to cross to Dalmatia but was killed in a mutiny. Cinna's daughter Cornelia married Julius Caesar.