After the assassination of Julius Caesar, there was a power vacuum in Rome. Unlike previous leaders, Caesar had become enormously powerful as a dictator, and when he died nobody was sure what would happen next. Would there be a new sole dictator? Would they return to the ways of the Roman Republic?
After a series of military battles, Rome settled on a very interesting political structure to answer that question. For ten years, from 43 B.C.E. to 33 B.C.E., they were ruled by a Triumvirate, an alliance of three men who split up the duties of governing. Marc Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus were each rulers over separate portions of the Roman Empire, and shared rule over Italy and Rome itself.
Origins of the Triumvirate
The three men who formed the Triumvirate were powerful political leaders before the assassination of Julius Caesar. Octavian was Caesar’s adopted son and heir, and had a strong claim to his title. Marc Antony was a general who had served under Caesar in his wars in Gaul and had enormous political influence. Lepidus was an influential political and military leader who had control of a large army near Rome.
In the immediate aftermath of Caesar’s assassination, Antony held a lot of political power in the Republic. The Senate wanted him to return the Republic to the state it was before Caesar took over, abolishing dictators and restoring the Senate’s power. Although he took some steps to make that happen, he eventually started to use Caesar’s image for political gain. Caesar was very popular with the Roman masses, and Antony sensed he could use that popularity to gain power for himself and turn the people against the Senators who had killed Caesar.
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