The First Triumvirate

The First Triumvirate was an informal alliance between the single most powerful men in the roman world that lasted from the years 60 BCE to 53 BCE (Marin 113). The three of these men came together with the mutual interest of furthering their own growing agendas for political and economic superiority by combining all of their power under one unofficial banner. The so called “First Triumvirate” was never formally recognized by the Senate or the people of Rome as an actual alliance between these three men (Marin 113). This unofficial alliance between the most powerful Roman citizens left the Senate extremely nervous as to what these three could do when they all would work together with mutual interests. One of the members of the Triumvirate is Gaius Julius Caesar, a man of great power and great ambition (Zoch 176). The second member, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a successful military commander who served under Sulla and made his name in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire fighting the king of Pontus, Mithridates (Zoch 175). The final member of the Triumvirate was Marcus Licinius Crassus. Crassus was the single most wealthiest Roman citizen at that time (Zoch 176). With Crassus’ immense wealth the three of these men would be virtually unstoppable. The First Triumvirate however, was a short lived alliance, that was filled with many trials and tribulations on the way to its gradual demise and the eventual dictatorship for life of Gaius Julius Caesar.