triumvir

[Lat. one of three men a oci. ated in an office, from trium vivorum =of three men: tres three, and vir a man.] 1. Rom . Antiq .: One of three men united in office. The triumvirs were either ordinary magistrates (as the Triumviri Capita les, who were police commi ioners, having charge of the jails, and acting as magistrates, the Triumviri Monetales, who were commi ioners of the mint, and had the charge of coining money), or they were extraordinary commi ioners appointed to jointly execute any office. Specifically applied to the members of the two triumvirates. [TRIUMVIRATE, 1.] 2. English Antiq .: A trithing man or constable of three hundred. (Cowel.) tri-um-vir-ate, subst. [Lat. triumvir at us, from triumvir a triumvir (q. v.).] 1. A coalition of three men in office or authority, Specifically applied to two great coalitions of the three most powerful individuals in the Roman empire for the time being. The first of these was effected in the year B. C. 60, between Julius Cæsar, Pompey, and Cra us, who pledged themselves to support each other with all their influence. This coalition was broken by the fall of Cra us at Carrhæ in Me so pot am i a: soon after which the civil war broke out, which ended in the death of Pompey, and establishment of Julius Cæsar as perpetual dictator. After his murder, B. C. 44, the civil war again broke out; and after the battle of Mutina, B. C. 43, Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus coalesced, thus forming the second triumvirate. They divided the provinces of the empire; Octavius taking the west, Lepidus Italy, and Antony the east. "And instituting a triumvirate, Do part the land in triple government." Daniel: Civil Wars, iv. *2. A party or set of three men; three men in company. Smouch requesting Mr. Pickwick, in a surly manner, to be as alive as he could, for it was a busy time,' drew up a chair by the door, and sat there till he had finished dre ing. Sam was then despatched for a hackney coach, and in it the triumvirate proceeded to Coleman Street," Dickens: Pickwick , ch. xl. *3. A group of three things intimately connected, "Theology, philosophy, and science constitute a spiritnal triumvirate."-G. H. Lewes: Hist. of Philosophy, i. xvii. ber of three men.