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How did the Second Triumvirate gain legal authority in Rome?

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Mark Antony marble bust — Mark Antony Mark Antony, detail of a marble bust; in the Vatican Museum.

Unlike the First Triumvirate, which was an informal, extralegal partnership, the Second Triumvirate gained formal legal authority in 43 BCE through an official appointment.12

Following the death of the consuls at the Battle of Mutina, Octavian used armed force to secure the consulship for himself. Subsequently, Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus had themselves appointed as tresviri rei publicae constituendae—"triumvirs for organizing the state"—by the Roman government. This title granted them absolute, dictatorial authority for an initial term of five years, which was later renewed for another five-year period in 37 BCE. This legal framework allowed them to consolidate control over Italy through proscriptions and confiscations before dividing the Roman world among themselves.31