Editing Second Triumvirate (section)

=== Creation, 43&nbsp;BC ===
{{see also|lex Titia}}

After Octavian and his forces reached Rome on 19 August 43&nbsp;BC, he secured for himself election to the consulship with his cousin [[Quintus Pedius]]. They moved quickly to enact legislation confirming Octavian's adoption as Caesar's heir and establishing courts to condemn Caesar's assassins ''in absentia''.{{sfn|Rawson|1992|p=486}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Welch |first=Kathryn |date=2014 |title=The ''lex Pedia'' of 43 BCE and its aftermath |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26740133 |journal=Hermathena |issue=196/197 |pages=137–162 |jstor=26740133 |issn=0018-0750}}</ref> They also repealed the declaration of Antony as a public enemy. Octavian then moved north to treat with Antony under Lepidus' protection. With the Caesarian soldiers' urging, Octavian and Antony reconciled; Octavian also would marry Antony's step-daughter [[Claudia (wife of Octavian)|Clodia]].{{sfn|Rawson|1992|p=486}} The three men then established themselves as the ''triumviri rei publicae constituendae'' (the latter words indicate a ''causa'' or commission for the reconstitution of the republic{{sfn|Vervaet|2020|pp=24, 30}}) for five years. This was confirmed by the ''[[lex Titia]]'', proposed by a friendly tribune at their request.{{sfn|Broughton|1952|pp=337, 340}}

The law was modelled on the [[Lex Valeria (82 BC)|''lex Valeria'']] in 82&nbsp;BC which established Sulla's dictatorship.{{sfn|Vervaet|2020|pp=36–37}} They received power to issue legally binding edicts,<ref>{{harnvb|Vervaet|2020|pp=34–35|ps=, also noting a connection between the Second Triumvirate's legislative powers and the powers of triumvirates established with constitutive powers for Roman colonies.}}</ref> were granted ''[[imperium maius]]'' which permitted them to overrule the ordinary provincial governors and to take credit for their victories,<ref>{{harnvb|Vervaet|2020|p=39|ps=, ''summum imperium auspiciumque''.}}</ref>{{sfn|Vervaet|2020|p=46}} and to act {{lang|la|sine [[provocatio]]ne}} (without right of appeal).{{sfnm|Vervaet|2020|1p=36|Pelling|1996|2p=1}} They also received powers to call the senate and directly appoint magistrates and provincial governors.{{sfn|Millar|1973|pp=51 et seq}} The legal powers given, exceeding those of the ordinary consuls, were noted on the [[Capitoline Fasti]], which list the triumvirs above the consuls.{{sfn|Vervaet|2020|p=39}}

Octavian and Antony then prepared to wage war on the ''liberatores'' with forty total legions. They also divided the western Roman world:
* Antony would receive Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul,
* Lepidus would receive Narbonensis and Spain, and
* Octavian (then the junior partner) would receive Africa, Sardinia, and Sicily.{{sfn|Rawson|1992|p=486}}

The triumvirs' powers were initially set to lapse on 31 December 38&nbsp;BC, though the legal powers may have been retained (after their later renewal in 38&nbsp;BC) all the way until 27&nbsp;BC when Octavian abdicated his magistracy.{{sfn|Vervaet|2020|p=32}}