triumvir
/trʌɪˈʌmvə
/ /ˈtrʌɪəmvə /noun (plural triumvirs or triumviri /ˈtrʌɪəmvərʌɪ/)
(In ancient Rome) each of three public officers jointly responsible for overseeing any of the administrative departments.The system was revived later in the century by the triumvirs Mark Antony, Marcus Lepidus and Octavian to eliminate those judged sympathetic to the assassination of Julius Caesar....
- Octavius, nephew of Julius Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus, united as triumvirs, oppose the forces raised by Brutus and Cassius.
- Political anarchy reigned in Rome at the hands of the triumvirs.
Derivatives
triumviral
- This left the empire in the hands of Octavian and Antony, who retained their triumviral power.
- After his death, the triumviral riots were exacerbated.
- The author's cultural history of the triumviral period is a useful model for approaching other similarly troublesome moments in Roman history.
Origin
Latin, originally as triumviri (plural), back-formation from trium virorum 'of three men', genitive of tres viri.