How the First Roman Triumvirate was Formed

In 60 BCE, two years after he had returned to Rome, Pompey was frustrated that the Senate had noy formally ratified the eastern settlement, instead procrastinating by confirming it piece by piece, not en bloc. And, as any general then had to do, he was looking for land on which to settle his ex-soldiers. Marcus Licinius Crassus, who has finally led Roman troops to victory against Spartacus and was reputedly the richest man in Rome, had recently taken up the  case of a struggling company of state contractors. They had bid far too much for the tax rights of the province of Asia, and Crassus was trying to get them permission to renegotiate the price. Julius Caesar, the least experienced and least wealthy of the three wanted to secure election to the consulship of 59 BCE and major military command to follow, not merely the policing duties against brigands in Italy that the senate had in mind for him. Mutual support seemed the best way to achieve these various aims. So, in an entirely unofficial deal, they pooled resources, power, contracts and ambition to get what they wanted in the short term - and in the longer. - SPQR by Mary Beard