Triumvirate
A triumvirate refers to a political structure consisting of three members, historically significant in the context of the Roman Republic. These legally established boards, known as triumvirs, were tasked with various administrative functions, including overseeing public finances, land distribution, and other governance-related duties. The term is often used by modern historians to describe two key political arrangements in Roman history: the First Triumvirate and the Second Triumvirate.
The First Triumvirate, formed in 60 BCE among Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, was more of a private alliance than an official body, aimed at consolidating power among the three leaders. In contrast, the Second Triumvirate was formally established in 43 BCE following the assassination of Julius Caesar, with Octavian (later Augustus), Marc Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus appointed by the Senate to restore order. While the latter was legally sanctioned, it evolved into a form of military dictatorship, leading to significant political upheaval. The eventual decline of the Second Triumvirate marked the rise of Octavian as the dominant figure in the Roman Empire.
Triumvirate
Related civilization: Republican Rome.
Date: 60-53 and 43-32 b.c.e.
Locale: Rome
Triumvirate
A triumvirate (tri-UHM-vuh-reht; Latin triumviratus) was a legally established board or commission composed of three members, a type of administrative organization common in the Roman Republic; its members were triumvirs (Latin tresviri). Republican triumvirates oversaw the mint, public finances, prisons and capital punishment, and land distribution both at home and at colonial foundations. Modern historians use the term misleadingly. The so-called First Triumvirate, a misnomer, was simply a private power-sharing arrangement, beginning in 60 b.c.e., among Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus; it was never termed a triumvirate in its own day. Julius Caesar benefited most from this private arrangement as he climbed to power.
The so-called Second Triumvirate, however, was constituted legally during the political crisis following Caesar’s assassination. In 43 b.c.e., the senate appointed Octavian (later Augustus), Marc Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to a five-year term as triumvirs to restore the government (tresviri rei publicae constituendae). What appeared to be an instrument of reform provided a type of military dictatorship. When authorization ran out in 37 b.c.e. and the commissioners refused to step down, the senate reappointed them for a second five-year term, probably ending on January 1, 32 b.c.e., but the commission collapsed rapidly, with Lepidus being deposed in 36 b.c.e. and Antony eventually losing the naval battle at Actium in 31 b.c.e. After Actium, Octavian emerged as de facto head of the Roman Empire, even though he did not declare the political crisis over until 28 b.c.e. and had not yet entered into agreement with the senate (27 b.c.e.) or acquired the full legal power needed to be successful as emperor (23 b.c.e.).
Bibliography
Oman, Charles William Chadwick. Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Republic. London: E. Arnold, 1957.
Plutarch. The Fall of the Roman Republic. Translated by Rex Warner. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1980.