Gaius Caesius Bassus (d. AD 79) was a Roman lyric poet who lived in the reign of Nero. He was the intimate friend of Persius, who dedicated his sixth satire to him, and whose works he edited (Schol. on Persius, vi. I). He had a great reputation as a poet; Quintilian (Instit. x. I. 96) went so far as to say that with the exception of Horace, he was the only lyric poet worth reading. He is said to have lost his life in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and to have been the husband of Rectina.