Which three individuals formed the Second Triumvirate in 43 BCE?

• A. Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
• B. Julius Caesar, Pompey, Marcus Brutus
• C. Octavian, Pompey, Marcus Licinius Crassus
• D. Mark Antony, Brutus, Cassius

Answer: (A)

This item is about the formation of the Second Triumvirate, a formal power-sharing alliance created in 43 BCE to govern Rome after Caesar’s assassination. The three men who came together were Octavian (the future emperor Augustus), Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. They secured a legal framework for their rule—through the Lex Titia—granting them extraordinary authority to legislate, allocate provinces, and proscribe enemies, with the aim of stabilizing the state and pursuing Caesar’s killers. This arrangement is distinct from the earlier informal First Triumvirate, which brought Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus together for private political purposes, and from the faction led by Caesar’s assassins, Brutus and Cassius, who did not form a formal, legally recognized governing body. The inclusion of Lepidus helped balance power, though Octavian would later outmaneuver the others and emerge as sole ruler.