TRIUMVIRATE
Photo: Miracle Players

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 institution 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.