Triumvirate

in Roman history, an agreement or alliance formed between three men. The First Triumvirate was formed 60 B. C. between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Caesar had command of the field forces in Gaul; Pompey was made commissioner of corn supplies; Crassus had command in the east, where he was killed in 53 B. C. The Triumvirate ended in the civil war of 49 B. C., by which Caesar became supreme. The Second Triumvirate was formed in 43, between Octavius, Mark Antony, and Lepidus. The conspirators, for we may call them that, met on an island near Bologna. Octavius received command of the west, Antony of the east, and Lepidus of Africa. Octavius, known in history as Augustus, used the armies for his own purposes. In 31 B. C. he became supreme. See Caesar; Pompey; Crassus; Antony; Octavius