1st Triumvirate Timeline

Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar formed the first triumvirate in 60 B.C.

Marcus Licinius Crassus of the 1st Roman Triumvirate — Hulton Archive/Getty Images

History & Culture

By

N.S. Gill

Updated on March 08, 2017

Roman Republic Timeline: First Triumvirate Timeline

By N.S. Gill

This 1st Triumvirate timeline fits within the End of the Republic time frame. The word triumvirate comes from the Latin for 'three' and 'man' and so refers to a 3-man power structure. The Roman Republican power structure was not normally a triumvirate. There was a 2-man monarchical element known as the consulship. The two consuls were elected annually. They were the top figures in the political hierarchy. Sometimes a single dictator was put in charge of Rome instead of the consuls. The dictator was supposed to last for a short period, but in the later years of the Republic, dictators were becoming more tyrannical and less amenable to leaving their position of power. The first triumvirate was an unofficial coalition with the two consuls plus one, Julius Caesar.

Year	Events
83	Sulla supported by Pompey. Second Mithridatic War
82	Civil War in Italy. See Social War. Sulla wins at Colline Gate. Pompey wins in Sicily. Sulla orders Murena to stop the war against Mithridates.
81	Sulla dictator. Pompey defeats Marians in Africa. Sertorius is driven from Spain.
80	Sulla consul. Sertorius returns to Spain.
79	Sulla resigns dictatorship. Sertorius beats Metellus Pius in Spain.
78	Sulla dies. P. Servilius campaigns against pirates.
77	Perperna joins Sertorius. Catulus and Pompey defeat Lepidus. Pompey appointed to oppose Sertorius. (See Pennell Chapter XXVI. Sertorius.)
76	Sertorius prevails against Metellus and Pompey.
75	Cicero quaestor in Sicily.
75-4	Nicomedes wills Bithynia to Rome. (See Asia Minor Map.)
74	Mark Anthony is given a command to take care of the pirates. Mithridates invades Bithynia. (See Asia Minor Map.) sent to deal with it.
73	Sparticus' uprising.
72	Perperna assassinates Sertorius. Pompey defeats Perperna and settles Spain. Lucullus fights Mithridates in Pontus. Mark Anthony loses to Cretan pirates.
71	defeats Spartacus. Pompey returns from Spain.
70	Crassus and Pompey consuls
69	Lucullus invades Armenia
68	Mithridates returns to Pontus.
67	Lex Gabinia gives Pompey command to take rid the Mediterranean of the pirates.
66	Lex Manilia grants Pompey command against Mithridates. Pompey defeats him. First Catilinarian Conspiracy.
65	Crassus is made censor. Pompey in the Caucasus.
64	Pompey in Syria
63	Caesar elected Pontifex Maximus. Conspiracy of Catiline and execution of conspirators. Pompey in Damascus and Jerusalem. Mithridates dies.
62	Death of Catiline. Clodius defiles the Bona Dea. Pompey settles the East and makes Syria a Roman province.
61	Pompey's triumph. Clodius' trial. Caesar is governor of Further Spain. The Allobroges revolt and the Aedui appeal to Rome.
60	Julius Caesar returns from Spain. Forms First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus.