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TRIUMVIRATE
Photo: Miracle Players
Triumvirate
Pronounce
TRIUMVIRATE
The Term
Also called: Tresviri
or Triumviri
Members of a triumvirate are called
triumvirs.
Pronounce
TRIUMVIR
The word triumvirate stems from the old
Latin phrase trium virum, which is the genitive plural of
tres viri, meaning three men.
The History
In
ancient Rome, a triumvirate was a committee of three officials
for all types of purposes. Some of these commissions became
especially famous. Such were:
THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE - 61 BC
UNTIL 54 BC
The members of the First Triumvirate were
Julius Caesar,
Pompey,
and
Marcus
Licinius Crassus.
The First Triumvirate was by no means an official deal but
more of a private pact if you will. In fact, Julius Caesar was eager
to get
Marcus Tullius Cicero on board but Cicero turned down the
offer because he thought this type of informal agreement between
political leaders was unconstitutional.
Ironically, Cicero became the victim of the Second Triumvirate.
Map of the Roman Civil War 49-45 BC
THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE - 43 BC
UNTIL 33 BC
The members of the board of the Second Triumvirate were
Mark Antony,
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and
Octavian
(Augustus Caesar while still a civilian.)
The Second Triumvirate was officially
called Tresviri rei publicae constituendae, which means that
the officials in question had been formally appointed to the task of
organizing the state.
And so they did, some with more success
than others:
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was deserted by his soldiers and forced to
retire in 36 BC, Mark Antony killed himself in 30 BC, and Octavian
became Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, in 27 BC.
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