Triumvirates In Ancient Rome: Power Struggle, Intrigue And Ambush

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - A triumvirate (in Latin' tre viri' - three-man - or 'triumviri') was a board of three officials who shared a position of authority or power in ancient Rome.

Lepidus, Octavian and Mark Antony make a list of names of the most important Romans, whom they can execute with impunity and expropriate their property (the second triumvirate). Image credit: Rijksmuseum -Credit line: Schenking van J.J. de Man, Ede - CC0 1.0 DEED

A political agreement between these statesmen enabled them to govern together so that "nothing in the republic could happen without their consent."

The "First Triumvirate," also known as - the alliance of 'three' - was an unofficial arrangement made in 60 BC by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey' the Great'), Gaius Julius Caesar, and Marcus Licinius Crassus.

These three strong political leaders could control the Roman political system and support each other to achieve their goals.

This "first alliance of three" lasted until the death of Crassus, who started an unwarranted invasion of Parthia and was killed in 53 BC during the Battle of Carrhae (now Harran Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey.

Caesar's triumphant military campaigns in Gaul and Pompey's persistent pursuit of more alliances to weaken Caesar unintentionally paved the way for a conflict. Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and sought refuge in Ptolemaic Egypt, where the courtiers of Ptolemy XIII assassinated him. The triumvirate fell apart because of a battle and ambush. Caesar ruled alone until his assassination in the Senate in 44.

The Second triumvirate was created in 43 BC by a Roman law, 'lex Titia.'

It granted Mark Antony, the young Caesar (the future Augustus), and Lepidus unlimited power for five years.

The triumvirate was later renewed in 38 BC. Unlike the so-called First Triumvirate, a private arrangement among three men, the Second Triumvirate was a legal instrument that created a formal legal framework to empower the three triumvirs with practically absolute power.

They had the authority to enact or abolish laws and issue judicial penalties without following due process or allowing for appeals, and they were responsible for appointing all other officials.

Additionally, they divided the Roman world into three distinct provinces.

This agreement concluded in 43 BC between Octavian, Marek Antony, and Marek Lepidus, was established to sort out the situation in Rome after the death of Gaius Julius Caesar and punish his assassins.

The Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century AD, depicting Augustus, the first Roman emperor.  Image credit: Joel Bellviure - CC BY-SA 4.0

The Second triumvirate differed from the first in that it was a legal entity expressly approved by the Senate rather than a private contract between strongmen. However, the second suffered the same fate as the first.

Many internal quarrels and jealousy led to its weakening and downfall.

Lepidus was the first to fall. After a power struggle against Octavian, he was stripped of all his offices except Pontifex Maximus in the year 36 and later banished to a remote island. Antony, on the other hand, spent four decades in Egypt living with Cleopatra and progressively distancing himself from Rome's political power plays. He met a crushing defeat at the 31st Battle of Actium.

It was a devastating loss, and Antony took his own life.

Octavian changed his title to Augustus in 27 AD and became the first emperor of Rome. The situation in ancient Rome began to change; the power of the Senate and its consuls was broken. The Roman Empire began its almost half-millennium influence on the  Mediterranean world.

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

Another one, 'Tresviri epulones,' was initially a board of three priests created in 196 BC to manage the banquet of Jupiter, the critical event in the Ludi Romani and Ludi Plebeii festivals.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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