What Was A ‘Triumvirate’ In Ancient Rome?

MessageToEagle.com – What was a ‘triumvirate’ in ancient Rome?

Triumvirate (Latin tresviri or triumviri), was a board of three officials who shared a position of authority or power in ancient Rome.

The first triumvirates instituted about 289 BC and assisted higher magistrates in their judicial functions.

Among the most important were those related to crime and the civil status of citizens.

Among several different triumvirates, there was, for example, tresviri monetales in charge
of the mint for Rome and Italy during both the republic and the empire.

Tresviri epulones was another one, originally a board of three priests, created in 196 BC to take charge of
the banquet of Jupiter, the key event in the festivals of the Ludi Romani and Ludi Plebeii.

The so-called First Triumvirate – the alliance of ‘three’ – Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, began in 60 BC, was not a formally created triumvirate because it had no official sanction. Instead, it was an extralegal alliance among three strong political leaders, which was particularly beneficial for Julius Caesar, giving him the opportunity to conduct the Gallic Wars.

Second Triumvirate (‘tresviri rei publicae’) –  legally formed and official institution – was formed in 43 BC, for five years; it was renewed in 37 BC.

It involved Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus) and was granted enormous power by the senate. The main goal of this institution was to reestablish of the public welfare.

When Lepidus was deposed in 36 BC, and Antony was defeated at Actium in 31 BC, Octavian remained at the head of the Roman Empire.

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