The First Triumvirate: The History of the Men Who Led Rome Near the End of the Republic

Possibly the most important man of antiquity, and even all of history, was Julius Caesar. Alexander Hamilton, the famous American patriot, once remarked that “the greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar”. The ultimate conqueror, statesman, dictator, visionary, and opportunist, during his time in power, Caesar expanded the borders of Rome to almost twice their previous size, revolutionized the infrastructure of the Roman state, and destroyed the Roman Republic for good, leaving a line of emperors in its place. His legacy is so strong that his name has become, in many languages, synonymous with power: the emperors of Austria and Germany bore the title Kaiser, and the Tsars of Russia also owe the etymology of their title to Caesar. His name also crept further eastward out of Europe, even cropping up in Hindi and Urdu, where the term for “emperor” is Kaisar.

Even in his time, Caesar was in many ways larger than life, and because of his legacy as virtual founder of the Roman Empire, much of what was written about – and by – him during his life and immediately after his assassination was politically motivated. The fact that he was murdered on the Ides of March is universal knowledge, but it’s often forgotten that he was stabbed while entering the Curia of Pompey, one of the Senate’s meeting places, in March of 44 BCE. The curia was a theater dedicated to Pompey the Great, Caesar’s rival in the civil war that ended the Republic and made Caesar dictator. When Caesar was stabbed, he fell at the base of a colossal statue of Pompey.

Thanks to Caesar’s victory in the civil war, Pompey is mostly remembered not for being one of Rome’s greatest generals, but for being defeated by Caesar and then ignominiously murdered after he fled to Egypt, where the boy pharaoh Ptolemy XIII decapitated Pompey and offered his head to Caesar as a gift. Although Caesar was there chasing Pompey’s men, he quickly became involved in Egypt’s own civil war. As a consequence of Ptolemy’s barbarity, Caesar impulsively decided to side with his sister Cleopatra in her bid for the throne of Egypt, escalating what was rapidly becoming an all-out civil war. Of course, before the civil war, Pompey was one of the most powerful men in Rome. Gnaeus Pompeius was born on September 29, 106 BCE and went on to become regarded as one of the greatest statesmen and generals of the late Roman Republic.

In time, Pompey played a role in defeating many of Rome’s enemies across the world, from Africa to Spain, and he even helped put down Spartacus’ uprising. He had built his military power and acumen by participating in Rome’s previous civil war between Gaius Marius and Sulla, sharpening both his political and military skills, and he used them to great effect for decades during one of ancient Rome’s most chaotic – and important – periods.

Marcus Licinius Crassus is most remembered today for being the richest Roman in history, and arguably the richest man in world history, but that came about in part because he played a key role in the revolutionary events that took place in Rome throughout the 1st century BCE, including the dictatorship of Sulla, the Third Servile War, the First Triumvirate, and the Parthian Wars. Crassus was the son of Publius Licinius Crassus, who was consul in 97 BCE, and while very little is known of Crassus’ early life, his career as a military figure began in earnest when he escaped from Rome in 87 BCE to Spain to avoid Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who, along with Gaius Marius, led the opposition against Sulla.

Alongside Pompey and Caesar, Crassus established the First Triumvirate, with Crassus supplying the funds, Pompey the muscle, and Caesar the political clout necessary for governing the city. Though later triumvirates officially wielded power, like the Second Triumvirate (which formed in the wake of Caesar’s assassination), this First Triumvirate acted behind the scenes to run Rome unofficially.