Triumvirate

Triumvirate , in ancient Rome, ruling board or commission of three men. Triumvirates were common in the Roman republic. The First Triumvirate was the alliance of Julius Caesar , Pompey , and Marcus Licinius Crassus formed in 60 BC This was not strictly a triumvirate, since the alliance had no official sanction. The three men were able to control Rome, and the alliance aided Caesar's rise to power by giving him the opportunity to pursue the Gallic Wars . The Second Triumvirate was legally established as the tresviri rei publicae constituendae [triumvirate for reestablishing the public welfare] in 43 BC for five years; it was renewed in 37 BC The members were Octavian ( Augustus ), Marc Antony , and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (d. 13 BC). This group was granted enormous power by the senate. Lepidus was deposed in 36 BC, and Antony was defeated at Actium in 31 BC, leaving Octavian at the head of the Roman Empire.

tri·um·vi·rate / trīˈəmvərit; -ˌrāt/ • n. 1. (in ancient Rome) a group of three men holding power, in particular (the First Triumvirate) the unofficial coalition of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in 60 bc and (the Second Triumvirate) a coalition formed by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian in 43 bc. ∎  a group of three powerful or notable people or things existing in relation to each other: a triumvirate of three former executive vice presidents. 2. the office of triumvir in ancient Rome.