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115-547: Events Places The Luca Conference was a 56 BC meeting of the three Roman politicians of the First Triumvirate — Caesar , Pompey and Crassus — that took place at the town of Luca (modern Lucca , in Tuscany ), near Pisa . Luca was the southern most town in the then Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul , where Caesar was serving as Governor. The meeting renewed the fraying political alliance, and further cemented
230-551: A Veneti uprising in northwestern Gaul. These campaigns led Caesar to seek a five-year extension of his command; to do this, he too would need the support of his allies once more. Over the summer of 56 BC, Caesar met with the leaders of various factions across Cisalpine Gaul. He met with Crassus at Ravenna and Pompey at the town of Luca , the southern-most city in Cisalpine Gaul . The agreement emerged from three relatively compatible aims: Crassus and Pompey desired
345-505: A "three-headed monster"; later historians such as Suetonius and Livy referred to the three as a societas or conspiratio ; the allies themselves "would presumably have referred to it simply as amicitia ". The usage of the term "triumvirate" to describe this political alliance was unattested during the Renaissance . First attested in 1681, the term emerged into widespread use only during the 18th century; for some time, knowledge that
460-472: A campaign to conquer southern Gaul against the Allobroges . He is first mentioned in 70 BC by Cicero as a witness against Verres . In 61, he was curule aedile , when he exhibited a hundred Numidian lions , and continued the games so long that the people were obliged to leave the circus before the exhibition was over, in order to take food, which was the first time they had done so. This pause in
575-459: A capable supporter of Pompey for the last decade, he was also indebted to Crassus, who was a guarantor of Caesar's debts. Upon his early return from Spain in June 60 BC, he was forced to choose between entering the city to declare candidacy for the consulship, which would dissolve his military command and make him ineligible for a triumph , or staying outside of the city in an attempt to work
690-405: A civil war by binding the fates of three power hungry and ambitious men, but it did not prevent conflict forever. In some ways the meeting made the political situation more dire, and even more dependent on the three men. The death of Crassus in 53 BC at the disastrous Battle of Carrhae destroyed the political balance the triumvirate created at Luca, foreshadowing Caesar's Civil War and the end of
805-513: A draft proposal for a lex Julia agraria and set it on the senate's agenda. He took a conciliatory approach, respecting the normal order of the senate and also writing a bill that rectified all the criticisms to Rullus' land bill in 63 BC (Cicero opposed that bill in De lege agraria ): Caesar would preserve public lands in Campania, repopulate desolate areas of Italy, move citizens from Rome onto
920-420: A feature of Roman administration, but this alliance was not counted among them. The term appears nowhere in any ancient source, refers to no official position, and is "completely and obviously erroneous". In the ancient world, the triple alliance was referred to with varying terms: Cicero, contemporaneously, wrote of "three men" ( tris homines ) exercising a regnum ; a satire by Marcus Terentius Varro called it
1035-416: A few months for his provincial assignment to Gaul. His legislative activity, however, came under immediate attack from Domitius and Memmius, who had been elected as praetors during Caesar's electoral comitia the last year, claiming that Caesar had passed the legislation against the auspices. These efforts were utterly unsuccessful – the pro-triumviral consuls allowed debate on the topic for three days – and
1150-495: A joint consulship; they also wanted good provincial assignments. Caesar needed an extension in his command to prevent a possible usurpation by Ahenobarbus. Some two hundred senators, mostly of lower rank, attended upon the three men, seeking to ingratiate themselves. The conference also forced a re-evaluation of alliances across the wider aristocracy: the Claudii – both Appius and Publius – and Gaius Cato switched sides back to
1265-553: A large number of political visitors came to Caesar over the winter, including some 200 senators and 120 lictors . Plutarch directly connects the meeting to the Gallic Wars. He holds that Caesar was using the winter to maintain high office, and spent lavishly to secure votes and favors in Rome. He mentions that Pompey and Crassus came, but give no reason for their visit. Plutarch complicates matters by writing three different versions of
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#17327761986121380-528: A law ratifying Pompey's settlements after the Third Mithridatic War , and legislation on provincial administration and tax collection. Caesar also was placed in a long-term governorship in Gaul. The early success of the alliance, however, triggered substantial political backlash. Political alliances at Rome reorganised to counterbalance the three men in the coming years. By 55 BC, the alliance
1495-429: A magistrate would address the people) where he requested Bibulus explain his opposition. When Bibulus failed to articulate any meaningful objections, beyond that "he would not permit any innovation", Caesar pled with him before the people, leading Bibulus to exclaim in frustration that "you will not have this law this year, not even should you all want it!", a violation of the norm of popular sovereignty. Seeking to avoid
1610-537: A number of other candidates decided to run, among them Ahenobarbus . Pompey and Crassus then dropped any pretense and openly ran. The effect of the richest man in Rome, and one of its greatest generals, both running for consul scared off all other candidates but Ahenobarbus. The apparent trickery of Pompey and Crassus led to general outrage at their conduct. In response, Cato the Younger pushed hard for Ahenobarbus' candidacy. Pompey and Crassus turned to violence to secure
1725-478: A one-third write-down of the tax bills owed by the publicani for Crassus, and second, for ratification of Pompey's eastern settlement. Both bills were passed with little or no debate in the senate. Lucullus, attempting to oppose Pompey's eastern settlement, was "forced into public humiliation on his knees before Caesar" when the consul threatened prosecution. When Cicero, defending his former co-consul Gaius Antonius Hybrida , made an off-hand remark complaining about
1840-429: A pact was sought – places the formation of the alliance some time between July 60 and January 59 BC. The purpose of the alliance was to secure something that none of the three men could secure alone. If Pompey and Caesar aligned alone, they would not likely be able to overcome opposition to Pompey's proposals in the senate. Pompey and Crassus were personal rivals who could only align through an intermediary. Caesar
1955-474: A policy of confrontation with Caesar. Deteriorating trust through 50 BC, along with the influence of Catonian anti-Caesarian hardliners on Pompey, eventually pushed Caesar into open rebellion in January 49 BC. The term "First Triumvirate", while well-known, is a misleading one which is regularly avoided by modern scholars of the late republic. Boards of a certain number of men such as decemviri were
2070-422: A powerful popular following which the fraying alliance was unwilling to oppose. He also quickly won over the consuls of that year by promising them the plum provincial assignments they needed to avoid bankruptcy. Later in the year 58, Clodius started to openly criticise the triumvirs, especially Pompey, forcing him into self-seclusion in his home. He also attacked Caesar's legislation on religious grounds. Pompey
2185-422: A previous command against Mithridates , Pompey's recent divorce of Celer's half-sister in a failed attempt to form a marriage alliance with Cato, and also by their fear of Pompey's power, led to an obstructive coalition. Lucullus returned from his semi-retirement to demand an in-depth review of every aspect of Pompey's eastern arrangements ; "this would take a tremendous amount of time and would prevent passage of
2300-412: A previous meeting between Crassus and Caesar at Ravenna. Cicero mentions that Pompey visited Caesar, but ascribes no special importance to the meeting, which might have been expected if there really were over 300 of the most important people in Rome visiting Caesar. However, Cicero appears to have understood that Caesar and Pompey had, if not forged an alliance, aligned their goals. Cicero's understanding of
2415-502: A province at the expiration of his consulship; and as the friendship between Caesar and Pompey cooled, he became closely allied with the latter. Ahenobarbus was the elected magistrate presiding over the trial against Titus Annius Milo in 52 for the murder of Publius Clodius , as related by Asconius ' summary of Cicero 's " Pro Milone ". For the next two or three years during Cicero's absence in Cilicia , information about Ahenobarbus
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#17327761986122530-422: A series of favourable senatorial decrees to provide more funds for his troops in Gaul – above Cicero's objections that Caesar could have paid for them out of his spoils – and granted his request to have ten legates ( decem legati ) sent to aid in administration and senatorial settlement of the region's affairs. Caesar's successes at this point had made him extremely popular among the people and in general across
2645-543: A similar bill distributing land to his veterans; he also had sent subordinates back to Rome to stand for the tribunate in attempts to bring the relevant legislation forward (an attempt in 63 BC was opposed by then-consul Cicero in De lege agraria ). Further attempts in 62 BC had led to his allied tribune fleeing the city. While he was successful in getting one of his men, Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi Calpurnianus , elected consul for 61 BC, an intervening religious scandal had made it impossible for him to push forward
2760-533: A simpler and less ostentatious picture of the event, leading some historians to question the veracity of the other accounts. Generally, accounts agree that the meeting renewed the political alliance known as the First Triumvirate . They agreed that Pompey and Crassus would again stand for the consulship in 55 BC. The elections would be postponed until the winter so that Caesar could support them by sending soldiers home to Rome to vote for them. Once elected, they would extend Caesar's command in Gaul by five years. At
2875-629: A strong figure in the consulship". Against the later literary sources, however, a contemporaneous letter to Cicero, where Caesar asked to form a political alliance, also implies Caesar had not yet reconciled Pompey and Crassus by December of 60, months after his election in the summer. Erich Gruen, in Last Generation of the Roman Republic , believes this letter, combined with the fact that Pompey and Crassus would have alienated each-other with any overt support for Caesar's candidacy, places
2990-418: A tribunician veto, Caesar exposed his alliance, summoning Pompey and Crassus. Pompey, when asked what he would do if opponents should use violence to disrupt the bill's passage, said "he would provide a shield if anyone dared to raise a sword in opposition". Bibulus responded by mobilising three tribunes to veto the bill (alternatively, he may have wanted to declare bad omens to prevent voting, or both). During
3105-471: A triumph from the senate. While the senate had regularly permitted candidacies in absentia , Cato filibustered Caesar's request; Caesar, shockingly, gave up his triumphal eligibility to declare his candidacy. Caesar was the known favorite for the consulship; to hobble him, Cato and his allies took two actions. They sought to assign the yet-to-be-elected consuls of 59 BC to home defence in Italy and sought
3220-502: A tyrant, with "dire warnings of the impending overthrow of the republican government" that discredited the alliance and forced senators to re-evaluate their tacit support. Crassus revelled in Pompey's discomfitures before the people; this unpopularity frayed at the alliance between the three men, which was meant only to secure for them aims which they could not achieve by themselves. Upon the conclusion of Caesar's consulship, he left after
3335-510: A very violent election day. Dio's account focuses on Pompey, whom he paints as afraid to play second fiddle to Caesar, especially as Caesar gained increasing glory in Gaul. Pompey thus sought to ally himself ever tighter with Crassus. Pompey and Crassus campaigned outside of election season, which was against the law, but got around this with the help of the tribune of the plebs . Dio also notes that Publius Crassus , son of Marcus, brought troops to help ensure Pompey and his father's election. This
3450-417: A wavering ally, a supporter of the triumvirate ( Gaius Memmius ), and an opponent ( Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus ) banded together. The consuls, concerned that they would be precluded from holding military command due to the lack of a requisite lex curiata , promised to throw their support behind the two candidates in exchange for choice provinces and their securing false testimony from three augurs to swear that
3565-482: A whole, these various elections showed the weakness of the triumviral coalition: Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus were unable to produce consistently favourable results except when their aims were entirely united; the joint consulship in 55 BC was brought about by force and, "thereafter, their [the alliance's] stock with the voters rapidly depreciated". In spring of 53 BC, while Rome dealt with its own political crisis, Crassus launched his invasion of Syria and Caesar
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3680-485: Is "misleading in equating the position of the 50s with the official triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian", preferring "alliance" and "Big Three". Books by Andrew Lintott and Richard Billows also have avoided invocation of "First Triumvirate". Others add more reasons to avoid its use, for example, Robert Morstein-Marx in the 2021 book Julius Caesar and the Roman People , "it is almost impossible to use
3795-429: Is important because Publius was at the time under the command of Caesar. It seems unlikely that he would have been able to go without Caesar's express wishes, making the consulship of Pompey and Crassus firmly endorsed by Caesar. Whether this detail was hammered out at Luca is not mentioned by Dio, though Plutarch seems to think that it was one of the terms. Cicero leaves out any mention of Crassus, despite having covered
3910-400: Is principally derived from the letters of his enemy Coelius to Cicero. In 50, he was a candidate for the place in the college of augurs left vacant by the death of Quintus Hortensius , but was defeated by Mark Antony through the influence of Caesar. The senate appointed him to succeed Caesar as governor of the province of further Gaul , and on the march of Caesar into Italy in 49, he was
4025-561: The Parthians. Still at this point, Caesar and Pompey were on friendly terms. Caesar praised Pompey, for example, for lending one of Pompey's Spanish legions to help against the Gauls, a private military arrangement which Cato criticised in the senate for usurping senatorial prerogatives on legionary assignments. The consuls immediately prepared to hold elections for 52 BC, which proved impossible when they were injured by stones thrown by
4140-535: The Roman Republic . First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic : Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus , Marcus Licinius Crassus , and Gaius Julius Caesar . The republican constitution had many veto points. In order to bypass constitutional obstacles and force through the political goals of the three men, they forged an alliance in secret where they promised to use their respective influence to support each other. The "triumvirate"
4255-526: The account: one each in his biographies of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. His account in Crassus is the most detailed. In it, he claims that Pompey and Crassus returned to Rome and let rumors spread that some agreement was reached, but were mute on the specifics. They were purposefully evasive about a desire to run for consul and seemed to deny wanting the consulship in direct questioning by the Senate. Given this,
4370-530: The adoption of Publius Clodius Pulcher into a plebeian clan. Clodius was an independent agent who was adept at playing political enemies off of each other. Soon after Clodius' adoption was ratified, he, against Caesar's wishes, successfully stood for a tribunate for 58 BC. After some slights from Caesar and Pompey relating to assignment of a foreign mission, he broke with them. At the start of his tribunate, Clodius pushed forward four popular bills to expand grain imports, provide free grain to Roman citizens in
4485-418: The alliance's formation decisively after Caesar's consular election. Some historians believe Caesar, in his letter to Cicero, may have been coy ("it may also be that Caesar was not yet showing Cicero all of his cards" ) but it did show that Caesar "was not specifically looking at building a triumvirate, but rather was looking to build as strong a coalition as possible". This evidence – especially disclosure that
4600-436: The appropriate land resettlement legislation. Through massive bribes, Pompey also secured the election of more of his men to offices in 60 BC ( Lucius Afranius as consul; Lucius Flavius as one of the plebeian tribunes ), but they too were stymied. Cato the Younger and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer , motivated in part by their dislike of Pompey's having previously and irregularly displaced their friend Lucullus from
4715-439: The assent of the senate. Little reasoned opposition emerged. In general, that an agrarian bill was desirable and "well justified... could not reasonably be denied... many senators must have felt that it was not high time to make good on the promise made long ago to the long-suffering veterans". Some ancient sources describe Caesar's conciliatory tone as a cynical plot to roll over the senators; Caesar's goal may have been to provide
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4830-445: The attempt, he was assaulted by a mob, which threw him from the rostra and broke his fasces , symbolically rejecting Bibulus' consular authority. The law was then passed; the next day, Bibulus called a meeting of the senate seeking to annul the law on grounds that it was passed contrary to the auspices and with violence; annulment on such grounds was extremely rare and the senate, regardless, refused. Caesar "provocatively demanded from
4945-522: The bill for the foreseeable future". Without capable allies in the magistracies – both Piso and Afranius were ineffective – Pompey was forced to look elsewhere for allies. Crassus was one of the richest men in Rome, having made his fortune by profiting from the Sullan proscriptions . He was a patron for Rome's equestrian businessmen . With Pompey, he had served as consul in 70 BC. Those public contractors had massively over-bid on tax contracts for
5060-662: The bill passed, they also made good on their promise to Caesar, putting forward legislation extending Caesar's term in Gaul for five more years. Pompey threw lavish games in September as part of his dedication of the Theatre of Pompey . News also came of Caesar's expedition beyond the Rhine to Britain; for these, the senate voted him twenty days of thanksgiving. The opposing tribunes attempted to obstruct recruitment for Crassus and Pompey's armies, but were unsuccessful. When Crassus left
5175-627: The busy campaigning season, Caesar crossed the Alps into Italy and wintered in Roman Luca, the southernmost city in Caesar's province of Cisalpine Gaul. What exactly happened in Luca is uncertain, and there are multiple accounts. The meeting is mentioned by multiple chroniclers: Plutarch , Cassius Dio , Appian , Suetonius , and Cicero . The only contemporary account is from Cicero , whose account paints
5290-780: The city in November, escorted by Pompey, they announced bad omens, attempted to arrest him, and cursed him at the city's gate. Part of the justification against Crassus' campaign was in terms of immorality: "several in Cato's circle argued... the Parthians had given no justification for war". The elections for the year, however, went strongly against the allies. Unwilling to repeat their mob tactics due to their unpopularity, Pompey campaigned for one of his clients, Titus Ampius Balbus, but those efforts were in vain. The voters returned Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , denied victory by Pompey and Crassus' violence, and Appius Claudius Pulcher . Also elected
5405-570: The city, restore the collegia (professional organisations), regulate the use of auspices as obstructive tactics, and regulate the power of the censors to remove senators. He also moved agitating against Cicero 's illegal execution of the Catilinarian conspirators during his consulship in 63 BC. While Cicero had secured some promises of protection from Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, and the consuls for 58 BC, "the promised assistance... never materialised" because Clodius had quickly gained
5520-498: The consuls of 57 and 56 BC were, if not opponents of, indifferent to both Caesar and Pompey; the failure to maintain their political influence put the alliance into a "shambles". Cicero, describing Pompey's plight, mentions the contio -goers estranged, the nobility hostile, and the senate unfair. Without the ability to make allies with the rest of the aristocracy, who had closed ranks against him, Pompey had to double down with his existing allies. Through this whole period, Caesar
5635-453: The consulship of 53 BC, he broke with Pompey and launched a prosecution against Scaurus. The alliance's opponents, led by Cato's coterie, also launched a broadside against their supporters in the courts: At least three more supporters of the triumvirate were prosecuted; they too were all acquitted. Cato and his coterie's judicial attacks were unsuccessful "in large part because the complex network of connections among senators meant that
5750-432: The consulship. In Crassus , Pompey explains there was almost six months between the conference and the events that followed, but neglects the timeline in his other works, as well as a clear sequence of events. Suetonius's account provides scant detail, aside from that an agreement was reached. Appian also holds that an agreement was reached (in private) as well as that Pompey and Crassus's forces nearly killed Ahenobarbus on
5865-423: The crowd. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC) Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , consul in 54 BC, was an enemy of Julius Caesar and a strong supporter of the aristocratic ( optimates ) party in the late Roman Republic . Ahenobarbus was born c. 98 BC as the son of consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus . His grandfather Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was a general and consul who led
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#17327761986125980-429: The deadline. Faced with political disaster, they decided instead of "scuttle the whole election process" for 56 BC. Election of Pompey and Crassus was by no means certain. By the time of the conference, to produce the conditions needed for victory, the alliance stoked mob violence and interposed a permanent tribunician veto – courtesy of Clodius' ally, Gaius Cato, who was tribune that year – to block elections until
6095-520: The dynasts. Cicero, dependent on and indebted to Pompey for his return from exile, was also enlisted to lend rhetorical support. The alliance was renewed and expanded to include the Claudii Pulchri, turning Clodius from an opponent to a supporter. In return for their help, the allies would support Appius – whose chances of election to a consulship without their support was slim – in his goal of being elected consul for 54. The remaining opposition
6210-458: The election of an uncooperative consular colleague. In both respects, they were successful: the consuls of 59 received commands that put them in a holding pattern and Cato secured election of his son-in-law and a personal enemy of Caesar's, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus , as Caesar's co-consul. Caesar won his election handily, but to turn his provincial assignment into glory and defeat Bibulus' obstruction, he would need allies. Scholars have debated
6325-399: The electoral comitia also to secure the election of their allies to the praetorship (both Milo and Vatinius were returned) while excluding opponents (Cato was not). These strong-arm tactics were exceptional and resulted from the alliance's realisation that failure to secure the consulship in this year would result in their political extinction. While they certainly won a temporary victory,
6440-431: The end of their joint consular year, Crassus would get the influential and lucrative governorship of Syria, to use as a base for a grand campaign to conquer Parthia. Pompey would keep Hispania in absentia . "In this way, since after their consulship Pompey and Crassus could expect major provincial commands, all three men would have armies and formal imperium for the next few years." With an army of his own, Crassus gained
6555-426: The fact that, in almost every case, former amici of Pompey are first seen to be ranged with the opposition in the year 59... by maintaining a consciously moral posture, driving the triumvirs to extreme measures, and parading their own martyrdom, Cato and his associates ruined triumviral credit among the people and assembled aristocratic collaboration in resistance". Early in 59 BC, Caesar and Pompey had ratified
6670-415: The following year. The terms of the consuls having expired, elections were conducted instead by temporary extraordinary magistrates, interreges , and with the arrival of Caesar's soldiers from Gaul on winter furlough, elections were held. Employing force to drive other candidates away and distributing bribes to ensure their victory, Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls. They then used their control over
6785-492: The former’s and/or Caesar's secret blessing; and neither Crassus nor Pompey were comfortable with the glory Caesar was winning in his Gallic campaign. By 56 BC, the bonds between the three men were fraying. "Pompey told Cicero that he believed Crassus was supporting Clodius. He even claimed that Crassus was plotting to murder him, and once again relapsed into morbid fears and sent for extra bodyguards from his rural clients. Mistrustful of Crassus, there were indications that Pompey
6900-449: The games was called diludium . He married Porcia , the sister of Cato the Younger , and in his aedileship supported the latter in his proposals against bribery at elections, which were directed against Pompey , who was purchasing votes for Afranius . The political opinions of Ahenobarbus coincided with those of Cato; throughout his life he was one of the strongest supporters of the aristocratic party. He took an active part opposing
7015-520: The gridlocked state of Roman politics in the years before 60 BC. All three had wanted something but were stymied by their rivals in the senate and assemblies. Pompey, having returned two years earlier from the Third Mithridatic War , wanted ratification of his peace settlements in the east. He also sought lands for his veterans to retire on. After Pompey's return from the Sertorian War from Hispania in 71 BC, he had been able secure
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#17327761986127130-399: The image of the city dominated by one man's sole power, unchecked by a colleague". Pompey and Caesar attempted public protests against Bibulus' edicts and seclusion, respectively, to little response from the people. By then, the popular fervour of the agrarian bills had died down and the public likely desired a return to normal politics. The ancient sources claimed that for most of the year,
7245-458: The land (reducing the chance of riots), distribute credit for the bill among twenty commissioners (of which Caesar was not to be one), purchase property for redistribution only from willing sellers based on censorial assessments, pay for the entire project from monies won by Pompey, and extend the land grants to Pompey's veterans in return for their service. Caesar had the bill read out line-by-line and promised to make any changes needed to receive
7360-680: The litigants could not be reduced to stark choices between two political parties or ideologies". This year also saw the death of Caesar's daughter, and Pompey's wife, Julia, in childbirth. Caesar offered in marriage his grand-niece Octavia , but was rebuffed. Pompey's refusal, however, did not indicate a break between the two allies. At the time, there was "no demonstrable rupture"; Pompey and Caesar continued to support each other politically for several years. The elections for 53 BC were hugely delayed due to political violence and bribery. Domitius and Appius Claudius engaged in bribery pact with two consular candidates. Thus, an anti-triumviral consul,
7475-405: The longer-term fallout of intimidation tactics and the validation of Cato's warnings proved especially harmful "among the basically conservative Roman voters". Pompey and Crassus moved first to elect censors and pass new legislation regulating juries and punishing bribery. The main piece of legislation was brought by an allied tribune, Gaius Trebonius , to grant for five years Crassus and Pompey
7590-441: The magistrates for 57 were friendly; in the elections of 57 (for magistrates in 56) his allies were repulsed from both the aedileship and the praetorship, while his political enemies won two praetorships. Caesar's political support in Rome was largely dependent on Pompey and Crassus, rather than his own legates or allies. By 56 BC, Caesar's enemies were mobilising against him: a tribune attempted to recall him for trial – which
7705-402: The measures of Julius Caesar and Pompey, and in 59 was accused, at the instigation of Caesar, of being an accomplice to the pretended conspiracy against Pompey's life. Ahenobarbus was praetor in 58. He was a candidate for the consulship of 55, and threatened that in his consulship he would carry out the measures he had proposed in his praetorship, and deprive Caesar of his province . He
7820-743: The most to lose. After alienating the Metelli by divorcing Mucia, Pompey's alliance with Caesar and Crassus alienated some former allies in the 60s as well, including the Cornelii Lentuli. The triple alliance also led to other formerly rivalrous families mending their relationships. The Luculli and Servilii, who had been rivals for decades, "combined to withstand the triumvirs". Similarly, the Scibonii Curiones, Cornelii Sullae, and Memmii switched from supporting Pompey into opposing him and Caesar. In general, "there can be no coincidence in
7935-478: The only one of the aristocratic party who showed any energy or courage. He threw himself into Corfinium with about thirty cohorts , expecting to be supported by Pompey; but as the latter did nothing to assist him, his own troops compelled him to surrender to Caesar after a seven day siege . Despairing of life, he ordered his doctor to give to him poison, but the latter gave him only a sleeping draught. His soldiers were incorporated into Caesar's army, but Ahenobarbus
8050-419: The opportunity to rival Caesar's and Pompey's military achievements. "Pompey was also satisfied. More than either of the others he had appeared in recent months to have been drifting away, but in the end he would not have been as well off if the triumvirate had been broken." As part of the bargain, Cicero was to be obliged to end his criticisms and become a loyal spokesman for the alliance. According to Plutarch,
8165-449: The passage of a law granting to Caesar the provinces of Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul for five years. Doing so replaced Caesar's assigned province of the woods and paths of Italy with Gaul; this was in response to growing tensions between the republic and the recent victors of a power struggle in Gaul, which had destabilised the geopolitical situation in the region. After the death of the governor of Transalpine Gaul – one of Cato's allies –
8280-465: The people would be too gracious to Caesar for bringing the bill and that the current situation was fine. The extent to which Caesar's prestige during his first consulship was a topic of debate is unclear; the later sources may here be injecting their knowledge of Caesar's later victories into the narrative. Caesar, seeking to break the filibuster, therefore threatened to have Cato sent to the carcer , Rome's small jail, which elicited mass indignation from
8395-460: The phrase 'First Triumvirate' without adopting some version of the view that it was a kind of conspiracy against the republic... Nomenclature matters... I eschew the traditional 'First Triumvirate' altogether". Classicists writing for more general audience also have shied away from use of the term "First Triumvirate". Mary Beard , for example, uses "Gang of Three" in her 2015 book SPQR . Yet others, such as Adrian Goldsworthy , have not, staying with
8510-443: The political class; Cicero, who had been sullen during Caesar's consulship, sang his praises, saying "If perhaps Gaius Caesar was too contentious in any matter, if the greatness of the struggle, his zeal for glory, if his irrepressible spirit and high nobility drove him on [that] should be tolerated in the case of a man of his quality". This popularity, however, did not translate into political victories for his political allies: none of
8625-576: The political situation, his "deadly enemy P. Clodius [had] his long-obstructed 'transition' to the plebs rushed through by Caesar... in good time to stand for the tribunate". Caesar then moved to lift the exemption of Campania from his agrarian bill some time in May; its passage may have proved the last straw for Bibulus, who then withdrew to his house. Pompey, shortly thereafter, also wed Caesar's daughter Julia to seal their alliance. An ally of Caesar's, Publius Vatinius (then-plebeian tribune), also secured
8740-469: The political strength of Pompey and Caesar forced him to drop a contentious motion he was to make before the Senate on 15 May regarding land reform in Campania ; Caesar was quite opposed to Cicero's motion. Historian Allen Ward argues that this is evidence that before May (and thus likely at Luca) Caesar and Pompey had a political understanding. Furthermore, he says it cements the idea that the triumvirs kept
8855-579: The province of Asia (parts of modern western Turkey ) because they failed to account for the devastation of the Third Mithridatic War . His clients demanded a reduction in the taxes they were contractually obliged to deliver to the treasury, a goal also stymied by Cato and Celer in December 61 BC. While senators such as Cicero personally believed "it was ridiculous for [the tax farmers] to seek to have their contracts renegotiated or cancelled simply because they had overestimated their potential profits",
8970-525: The provinces of Syria and Hispania (they would draw lots for the specific assignment). Crassus envisioned possible campaigns against Egypt or the Parthians; Pompey envisioned similar campaigns against the Spanish hinterlands. Fearing vetoes from two of his tribunician colleagues, Trebonius had one of them locked in the senate house and prevented the other from entering the Forum with an obstructive mob. With
9085-676: The requisite lex had been passed. When Memmius exposed the conspiracy, likely to implicate Domitius, all four were indicted for bribery. The senate delayed elections to hold an inquiry, but the specific steps forward became quickly contested and various tribunes vetoed the elections. Coupled with raging street battles in the city between Milo and Clodius' armed gangs, elections were finally held after more than seven months without any magistrates, in July 53 BC. Dio attributed these delays to tribunician vetoes against elections of interreges designed to incite appointment of Pompey as dictator. Pompey
9200-618: The returned Cicero's support, was able to secure a prestigious command over Rome's grain supply in September 57 BC. However, Pompey's very success renewed the coalition against him: a coalition of the Claudii, including Clodius, the Lentuli, and the Catonians – with little meaningful opposition from Caesar and Crassus – were able to shut off any hope of Pompey being granted a new military command in Egypt to restore Ptolemy XII Auletes to
9315-403: The senate an oath of obedience to the law and got it" after some pushing and resistance from Cato and some of his allies. Some time after passage of the agrarian bill, Bibulus withdrew from public business to his home to declare unfavourable omens on all future voting days; the specific time in the year he did so, however, is not known. Caesar moved two further bills, first, for ratification of
9430-399: The senate had been on the verge of approving the legislation before Celer's intervention. Crassus, a personal enemy of Pompey, also opposed Pompey's settlements and land bills in 60 BC, successfully mobilising his support among the lower-ranked senators to defeat Pompey's proposals. His opposition to Pompey may have been in attempt to win over the senators blocking his own goals, but this
9545-504: The senate rejected the claims. In later years, Caesar's laws were accepted writ large (perhaps with the exception of Bibulus), disregarding any technical religious objections: "If Cicero and Cato both went along with the laws of Vatinius and Caesar, we can fairly assume the rest of the senators did so as well... For Bibulus, it was something of a personal campaign to seek to undermine... Caesar's legislation... but his protests in 59 and later hardly 'kept [it] technically invalid'". Pompey had
9660-462: The senate was not called and that the people and senators were intimidated and cowed into passing whatever the three allies put before them. These claims are incompatible with the attested events of that year. For example, in that year, Caesar's ally Vatinius was defeated in an election to the augurate and later elections for the magistracies returned Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Memmius , both opponents of Pompey and Caesar, as praetors. He
9775-448: The senate was persuaded also to assign to Caesar that province as well. Both bills were met with little resistance, likely due to Cato and his allies' boycotting of public business. By the summer, however, popular opinion had started to turn against Caesar's methods. Pompey also was distancing himself from Caesar. This was in part due to the success to Cato and Bibulus' campaign: Bibulus' choice to confine himself to his home "presented
9890-407: The senators an opportunity to "adopt symbolic leadership and demonstrate its solicitude for the interests... of the people... [giving] the body a chance to co-opt the cause of agrarian legislation in its own favour". Whether a cynical ploy or not, the senate voiced little opposition until the speaking order eventually wound its way to Cato; Cato immediately started a filibuster, arguing instead that
10005-416: The senators. In doing so, Cato succeeded in provoking Caesar into giving credence to Cato's claims that Caesar was a would-be tyrant. Recognising the mistake, Caesar quickly had Cato released. After facing these hurdles in the senate, Caesar moved to bring the agrarian law before the people on his own authority, without senatorial consent. Moving to the forum, Caesar summoned a contio (a meeting wherein
10120-434: The specific date at which the alliance was formed. Plutarch , Livy , and Appian placed the formation of the alliance before Caesar's election; Vellius , Suetonius and Cassius Dio instead put its formation after his election. During the elections to the consulship, Caesar certainly received support from both Pompey and Crassus, though "each for his own reasons... Crassus cultivated promising adherents[;] Pompey needed
10235-434: The subordinate stature of Pompey's other amici ", defeat the political opposition, and win a profitable command. It was well known prior to Caesar's assumption of the consulship with the new year that he would propose a lex agraria . With powerful and secret political allies, Caesar started his consulship of 59 BC relatively traditionally. After ordering that minutes of the senate's debates be published, he published
10350-401: The success of Cato and Bibulus' tactics at discrediting Caesar and Pompey made the two greatly unpopular during and after the summer: "[Caesar and Pompey's] public appearances were received coldly or with open antagonism... Bibulus, far from being a pitiable figure, had never enjoyed such wide repute". Cato and Bibulus, for their part, mobilised a large propaganda campaign seeking to brand Caesar
10465-602: The term was a modern coinage was unknown, "revealed" only in 1807. By the 19th century, usage was somewhat regular – mostly in English and French sources, though not in German ones, – usually prefaced with clarifications that the term did not refer to any official position. More recently, scholars have started to avoid the term in publications altogether. Harriet Flower in Roman Republics writes that "First Triumvirate"
10580-430: The terms of the deal partially secret until Pompey and Crassus ran as consuls late in the year. Ward analyzes that Cicero likely knew some sort of ominous bargain had been struck at Luca, but did not know the extent of the danger until the fall. Cicero privately cursed his now awkward political situation: he was forced to either look like a fool, or to go along with politics he did not agree with. The Conference forestalled
10695-400: The threat of Domitius' consulship by asking Crassus to stand and veto any actions to take away his command. Pompey chose to stand for the consulship as well, possibly unilaterally, met with the support (if not entirely willing), of his allies. However, by the time this arrangement was decided, the current consul – Marcellinus – refused to accept their candidacy on grounds that they had passed
10810-525: The three men's increasing consolidation of power in the Roman Republic . The Roman general Julius Caesar was in the midst of fighting the Gallic Wars . At the end of 57 BC, he had conquered much of Gaul and had been awarded a 15-day supplicatio , a feast of thanksgiving, longer than any before. Caesar's gravitas was growing quickly, and he aimed to leverage it to his advantage. Rome
10925-444: The throne. In a clash of mutually exclusive proposals raised by different factions in January 56 BC, all proposals were unacceptable to at least one party, leading to nothing being done about Egypt. At the same time, Pompey's grain command had not produced reduced prices, further reducing his popularity; under attack by Clodius, whom Pompey suspected Crassus was supporting, the conservatives around Bibulus and Curio watched. All
11040-597: The traditional nomenclature while explaining that the term is inaccurate. The fourth edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary , for example, similarly says "the coalition formed between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in 60 BCE was wholly unofficial and never described at the time as a triumvirate... 'First' and 'Second Triumvirate' are modern and misleading terms". The alliance between Pompey , Crassus , and Caesar emerged due to their failure to pass various core portions of their programmes in
11155-497: The use of naked force and chaos to achieve political ends, Crassus died in 53 BC during his failed invasion of Parthia . Caesar and Pompey, the two remaining allies, maintained friendly relations for a few years. They remained allies even after Pompey's assumption of a sole consulship in 52 BC and the death of Julia (Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife). Pompey, however, moved to form alliances to counterbalance Caesar's influence after Crassus' death. These drew him slowly into
11270-458: The war vigorously against Caesar, but the town was eventually taken, and Ahenobarbus escaped in the only vessel that was able to get away from the town. Ahenobarbus then proceeded east and joined Pompey in Thessaly , and proposed that, after the war, all senators who had remained neutral should be brought to trial. Cicero, whom he branded as a coward, was not a little afraid of him. Ahenobarbus
11385-518: Was Cato for a praetorship; the next year, he would chair the court on extortion. The new consul Appius Claudius Pulcher seemed an ally, but as the political winds blew against the alliance, he quickly defected. Early in the year, he cooperated with them in securing the appointment of a Pompeian ally as one of Caesar's tribunes and obstructed Gabinius' prosecution (for the bribes received to induce his invasion of Egypt), but seeing Pompey's support for one Marcus Aemilius Scaurus rather than his brother for
11500-411: Was also able to secure election of two allies – one was Caesar's soon-to-be father-in-law ( Lucius Calpurnius Piso ) and the other was Pompey's supporter Aulus Gabinius – to the consulship. Also passed during Caesar's consulship was the lex Julia de repetundis , which was a wide-ranging reform on corruption in the provinces and before the republic's permanent courts. During the Caesar's consulship,
11615-435: Was also beginning to wonder whether or not he still needed Caesar." Early in the year, before the military campaigning season had begun, Caesar invited Marcus Crassus, then Pompey, to a meeting. Suetonius says that: "Caesar made Pompey and Crassus come to Luca, a city in his province, where he persuaded them to seek a second consulship, thwart Domitius, and secure for him a five year extension to his provincial command." After
11730-465: Was also further reinvigorated. Cato had returned from a provincial assignment in Cyprus in late 56 and supported Domitius' campaign for the consulship. After 55 BC, when Pompey and Crassus assumed a joint consulship by violence, the political fortunates of the triple alliance quickly soured. The development of the specific terms of their renewed agreement may have taken some time. Caesar responded to
11845-585: Was dealing with a military crisis as the Gauls rose up. From the perspective at Rome, news of ambushes against in Gaul arrived first: Caesar abandoned his civil functions in Cisalpine Gaul to rescue his legions wintering in the Eburones ' territory (near modern Belgium). A few months later, news of the disaster at the Battle of Carrhae arrived, reporting that Crassus and much of his army had been killed by
11960-590: Was defeated, however, by Pompey and Crassus , who also ran for the consulship, and was driven from the Campus Martius on the day of election by force of arms. He became a candidate again in the following year, and Caesar and Pompey, whose power was firmly established, did not oppose him. He was accordingly elected consul for 54 with Appius Claudius Pulcher , a relation of Pompey, so he was not able to effect anything against Caesar and Pompey. Both men were involved in an election scandal that year. He did not go to
12075-496: Was dismissed by Caesar uninjured − an act of clemency which he did not expect, and which he would himself certainly not have shown had he instead been the victor. Ahenobarbus' feelings against Caesar remained unaltered, but he was too deeply offended by the conduct of Pompey to join him immediately. He retired for a short time to Cosa in Etruria , and afterwards sailed to Massilia , which he defended against Caesar . He prosecuted
12190-443: Was evidently unsuccessful. Passing renegotiation of these tax contracts was vital for Crassus: "his reputation and influence depended on his ability to act as a champion for the powerful equestrian order". Caesar in 60 BC was the recently returning governor of Hispania Ulterior . At this point, he was the least powerful of the three, although he had, in an upset, won election as pontifex maximus in 63 BC. Energetic and
12305-612: Was fighting in the Gallic Wars . By early 56 BC, he had won enormous popularity both with the senate and the people: in 57, Caesar requested thanksgivings for his victory over the Belgae and, at a motion of Cicero, received fifteen days of supplicationes , a new record. In his narrative of his campaign, Commentarii de Bello Gallico , by 57, Caesar reported pacification of the whole region. These military achievements had undercut any political will to undermine Caesar's acta from his first consulship, and during 56 itself, Caesar received
12420-567: Was fraying. The three men, however, came together in mutual interest to renew their pact. By force and with political disruption aided by their allies, they delayed consular elections into 55 BC and intimidated the comitia into electing Pompey and Crassus again as consuls. Caesar's command in Gaul was then renewed for another five years; plum provincial commands placed Pompey in Spain and Crassus in Syria . Amid even stronger backlash at Rome against
12535-439: Was in turmoil. “Caesar had already been away for two years, and the time had not passed quietly in Rome. His consulship had been controversial, but in many ways was mild in comparison with the turbulent months that followed, when orchestrated mob violence, instigated by Clodius , became a regular feature of public life.” Clodius's violent populist campaigns had been undermining relations between Crassus and Pompey, likely with either
12650-436: Was killed just after the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, in which he commanded the right wing against Mark Antony, who, according to Cicero, struck the blow that killed him. He was struck down while trying to escape. Ahenobarbus was a man of great energy of character; he remained firm in his political principles, but was unscrupulous in the means he employed to maintain them. The poet Lucan makes Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
12765-451: Was not a formal magistracy, nor did it achieve a lasting domination over state affairs. It was formed among the three men due to their mutual need to overcome opposition in the senate against their proposals in the previous years. Initially secret, it emerged publicly during Caesar's first consulship in 59 BC to push through legislation for the three allies. Caesar secured passage of an agrarian law which helped resettle Pompey's veterans,
12880-502: Was not in the city; his return in the summer and his declining of a dictatorship, however, may have stabilised the city sufficiently – both by his presence and by his starting a rapprochement with Cato's conservative faction – to allow for elections. By July, the alliance's support for Scaurus, along with Gaius Memmius , had gone nowhere. The comitia instead returned candidates supported by a coalition of triumviral enemies: Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus . As
12995-458: Was somewhat successful in checking Clodius' influence when he formed a coalition to overturn Cicero's banishment, but Clodius' attacks continued, tacitly supported by Crassus and one Gaius Porcius Cato (a relative of Cato the Younger). Pompey also responded by supporting Titus Annius Milo and Publius Sestius , who raised their own urban mobs to contest the streets from Clodius' mobs, and, with
13110-460: Was that intermediary. Crassus' motives are less clear. He must have wanted more than simply renegotiation of tax contracts. Crassus' additionally would be one of the administrators for the Pompeian land grants and, in doing so, "the preeminence which Crassus could not quite attain on his own [came] within his grasp". Caesar needed the alliance as well: he would fully become his own man, "escap[ing]
13225-444: Was vetoed, as he Caesar was legitimately on government business, – while Domitius only "declared his intention to terminate Caesar's command as soon as possible". Furthermore, Caesar's land bills were under attack by a tribune – perhaps under Pompey's influence – who wanted to deny Caesar's veterans from receiving land under his lex Julia agraria upon their retirement. And in the summer, fighting started back up, with campaigns against
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