A political alliance of convenience between any three strongmen to share power among themselves to the exclusion of others. Though the term could be used in such a general sense, the most famous come from the 1st Cent BC Rome.
The so-called First Triumvirate was initiated by Julius Caesar to help him get elected as consuland formed between him and Pompey Magnus and Licinius Crassus in 60 BC. It served them well and lasted until 53, when Crassus was captured and killed by the Parthians after the Battle of Carrhae.
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The "Second Triumvirate" was formed between Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus, in the aftermath of the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The alliance came to an end when Octavian sent Lepidus into exile, and the Roman empire was divided between Octavian and Mark Antony. The relationship between the two, never strong from the beginning, soured further until Mark Antony (with Cleopatra) was defeated at the Battle of Atium in 31 BC. Antony's and Cleopatra's suicides left Octavian the sole power; he was evenutally granted the imperium maius (supreme power) over every province in the Roman Empire in 19 BC.
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