Editing Second Triumvirate (section)

== Legacy ==

=== In formation of the Principate ===

The ascendancy of Octavian at the triumvirate's close was closely followed by his constitutional "settlements" and the formation of the [[Principate]] and the [[Roman Empire|Roman empire]].<ref>Scholars over the last decades have increasingly challenged the older view that Augustus "restored the republic whilst hiding his powers behind [a] façade". They emphasise that the "Principate" emerged only with [[Tiberius]]' success in making the position hereditary. See eg {{cite web |last=Cooley |first=Alison |author-link=Alison E. Cooley |title=Augustus, Roman emperor, 63 BCE–14 CE |date=2022-02-24 |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-979 |website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.979 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 |access-date=2022-09-30}}</ref> The creation of the triumvirate and its system of absolute rule, however, was not then known to be permanent. Even in the imperial period, writers like [[Tacitus]] reflected on how the republic had been dominated by single men before.<ref>{{harvnb|Pelling|1996|p=1|ps=, citing Tac. ''Ann''. 1.}}</ref> Moreover, it was not inevitable that the triumvirs were going to defeat the ''liberatores''.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1992|p=488|ps=. "The cause of the 'liberators' might have triumphed; its defeat at Philippi was not a foregone conclusion".}}</ref> Their successful campaign, culminating at Philippi, was recognised in coming generations as a turning point in the republic's history. Tacitus, for example, dates the end of the republic to the triumviral victory there, which left the republic defenceless and ''nulla iam publica arma'' (i.e., the republic was disarmed).{{sfn|Rawson|1992|p=488}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Tacitus |title=Annals |volume=3 |year=1931 |translator-last=Moore |translator-first=Clifford H  |series=Loeb Classical Library 249 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-99274-0 |at=2 }}</ref> [[Erich Gruen]], in ''[[The Last Generation of the Roman Republic]]'', attributes the republic's collapse to the long and brutal conflicts after Caesar's assassination, largely fought by (and then between) the triumvirs, which eventually "made it impossible to pick up the pieces".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gruen |first=Erich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8a4wDwAAQBAJ |title=The last generation of the Roman republic |year=1995 |isbn=0-520-02238-6 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |page=504 }}</ref>

The mass violence of triumviral rule and their untraditional form of government was contemporaneously seen as illegitimate.{{sfn|Welch|2016}} To combat such charges, the triumvirs attempted to preserve the appearance of republican practices and legality.{{sfn|Welch|2016}} Of course, the extent to which the triumvirate heeded republican traditions changed over time. Over time, as the political situation stabilised, Octavian in Rome resumed the normal operation of the consulship (rather than appointment of many and multiple suffect consulships in a single year).{{sfn|Millar|1973|p=52}}

The traditional magistrates did not yield all of their duties to the triumvirs; they were still expected to and did conduct public business. Moreover, the [[Roman consul|consul]]s still exercised some degree of independent political authority.<ref>{{harvnb|Millar|1973|p=53}}, citing {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv''.|loc=4.37}} (mentioning that [[Lucius Munatius Plancus]] passed legislation striking some victims from the proscription lists).</ref> The traditional means of moving legislation before the senate and the assemblies also was not abandoned: the triumvirs moved multiple laws before the people on diverse subjects such as extending citizenship, ratification of Antony's eastern settlements, extension of the triumvirate, and expanding the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patriciate]].{{sfn|Millar|1973|p=53}} While the mere operation of the republic's institutional machinery did not represent a free state, the triumvirs made a show of following traditional legal niceties.{{sfn|Millar|1973|p=54}} The triumvirs at various times also made repeated promises or offers to give their powers back to the senate and people, though of course these promises were never kept.{{sfn|Millar|1973|pp=54, 65}} Most especially, the triumvirs' powers to appoint all provincial governors served as part of the division between military and civic provinces later adopted in Augustus' political settlements.{{sfn|Millar|1973|p=62}}

=== In Roman culture ===
The political chaos of the triumviral years proved a ladder for many provincials, veterans, and former slaves. Many of the great works of Latin literature were produced in this unstable period, such as [[Horace]]'s ''[[Epodes (Horace)|Epodes]]'' and ''[[Satires (Horace)|Satires]]'', [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Eclogues]]'' and ''[[Georgics]]'', and the histories of [[Sallust]] and [[Gaius Asinius Pollio|Asinius Pollio]].{{sfn|Welch|2016}} The political competition between Octavian and Antony provided the impetus for Octavian's ally, [[Gaius Maecenas]], to support many leading artists of his day.{{sfnm|Welch|2016|Pelling|1996|2p=45}}

Virgil's ''Eclogues'', for example, shed light on the fears of shepherds and herdsmen in rural Italy during Octavian's land confiscations when he sought lands to settle veterans in the aftermath of Philippi. The proscriptions also proved a topic of embellishment; many stories are told of the plight of victims and their attempts to escape. Cicero's plight during the proscriptions, especially, was a recurrent topic in ancient schools of oratory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beard |first=Mary |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/902661394 |title=SPQR: a history of ancient Rome |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-87140-423-7 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=902661394 |publisher=Liveright Publishing |pages=341–344}} Also references {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv''.|loc=4}} and {{harvnb|Sen. ''Suas.''|loc=6–7}} (on Cicero).</ref>