Editing First Triumvirate (section)

==== Joint consulship, 55&nbsp;BC ====
Election of Pompey and Crassus was by no means certain.{{sfn|Tatum|2006|p=203}} 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 the following year.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=182}} The terms of the consuls having expired, elections were conducted instead by temporary extraordinary magistrates, [[Interrex|''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.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=182}} They then used their control over 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).{{sfn|Tatum|2006|p=203}}

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.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=147}} While they certainly won a temporary victory, the longer-term fallout of intimidation tactics and the validation of Cato's warnings proved especially harmful "among the basically conservative Roman voters".{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=147}}

Pompey and Crassus moved first to elect censors and pass new legislation regulating juries and punishing bribery. The [[Lex Trebonia|main piece of legislation]] was brought by an allied tribune, [[Gaius Trebonius]], to grant for five years Crassus and Pompey the provinces of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] and Hispania (they would draw lots for the specific assignment). Crassus envisioned possible campaigns against Egypt{{efn|This campaign was not to be. During Crassus' consulship in 55&nbsp;BC, [[Aulus Gabinius|Gabinius]] – consul in 58&nbsp;BC, then-Syrian governor, and in return for a massive bribe of 240 million [[Sestertius|sesterces]] – went on an unsanctioned expedition into Egypt and decisively defeated [[Berenice IV]], restoring Ptolemy XII to the throne by April 55&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Wiseman|1992|p=399}} }} or the Parthians; Pompey envisioned similar campaigns against the Spanish hinterlands.{{sfn|Wiseman|1992|pp=398, 399 (drawing of lots)}} Fearing vetoes from two of his tribunician colleagues,{{efn|The two opposing tribunes were [[Publius Aquillius Gallus]] and [[Gaius Ateius Capito (tribune)|Gaius Ateius Capito]].{{sfn|Wiseman|1992|p=398}} }} Trebonius had one of them locked in the senate house and prevented the other from entering the [[Roman Forum|Forum]] with an obstructive mob. With 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.{{sfn|Wiseman|1992|pp=398–99}}

[[File:First triumvirate luca56bc.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|Assignment of Roman provinces to Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus.]]

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 the city in November, escorted by Pompey, they announced bad omens, attempted to arrest him, and cursed him at the city's gate.{{sfn|Wiseman|1992|p=400}} 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".<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2019|p=188|ps=, adding that the tribune who cursed Crassus was later blamed for the disaster at Carrhae.}}</ref>

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 (consul 54 BC)|Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus]], denied victory by Pompey and Crassus' violence, and [[Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 54 BC)|Appius Claudius Pulcher]].{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=148}} Also elected was Cato for a praetorship; the next year, he would chair the court on extortion.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=187–88, 190}}