In 60 BCE, Julius Caesar helped reconcile Pompey and Crassus and created an informal, secret political pact (later labeled the First Triumvirate) to overcome senatorial opposition and coordinate elections and legislation.
Caesar’s successful bid for the consulship (for 59 BCE) depended on coordinated support from Pompey and Crassus, making the pact a practical machine for winning office and controlling the legislative agenda.
During Caesar’s consulship, a major land-allotment measure prioritized settlement for Pompey’s veterans; when opponents tried procedural obstruction, Caesar and allies used intimidation and popular assembly tactics to secure passage.
In 59 BCE, the Lex Vatinia assigned Caesar Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years, with Transalpine Gaul added afterward—providing the military base and time that made the Triumvirate’s power durable.
To reinforce the political compact with a family alliance, Pompey married Caesar’s daughter Julia in April 59 BCE, strengthening personal ties between the two leading partners.
With his provincial command underway, Caesar began major operations in 58 BCE, first confronting the Helvetii migration and then defeating Ariovistus, initiating the Gallic campaigns that greatly increased his resources and prestige.
After being adopted into a plebeian family, Publius Clodius Pulcher was elected tribune for 58 BCE; he advanced legislation that drove Cicero into exile and acted in ways that supported Caesar’s interests while destabilizing politics in Rome.
By 57 BCE, factional competition and shifting alliances in Rome—along with efforts to pull Pompey back toward senatorial leadership—began to fray the Triumvirate’s cohesion, even as each partner still needed the others’ leverage.
In 56 BCE, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus met at Luca (Lucca) to renew their weakening alliance, coordinating future consulships and provincial commands and reasserting dominance over Roman politics.
After intense political maneuvering and disruption, Pompey and Crassus secured the consulship for 55 BCE, giving the alliance direct control of Rome’s top magistracy again.
As planned, legislation in 55 BCE prolonged Caesar’s provincial commands and granted Pompey a multi-year command in Spain and Crassus one in Syria—locking in the Triumvirate’s territorial power bases.
In 53 BCE, Crassus was defeated and killed during Rome’s Parthian campaign at the Battle of Carrhae, removing the Triumvirate’s third partner and destabilizing the balance between Caesar and Pompey.
The First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus (60–53 BCE)
