{{Short description|Tragedy in five acts by Voltaire}} {{Infobox play | name = Le Triumvirat | writer = Voltaire | original title = Octavian et le jeune Pompée ou le Triumvirat | image = | caption = | based_on = | director = | characters = | mute = | premiere = 5 July 1764 | place = | orig_lang = French | orig_run = 1764-1764 | series = | subject = Second Triumvirate, Sextus Pompey | genre = Tragedy | setting = Roman Republic | last_play = | next_play = }} '''''Octavian et le jeune Pompée ou le Triumvirat''''' (better known simply as '''''Le Triumvirat''''') is a tragedy in five acts written by Voltaire in 1763. The play was premiered on 5 July 1764 and the script was published in 1766. It's plot centers around the Second Triumvirate's conflict with Sextus Pompey and mainly focuses on the ill that happens to the women in the lives of the men involved in the conflict.
Voltaire wrote an essay named "Des conspirations contre les peuples, ou des proscriptions" (Concerning conspiracies against peoples, or proscriptions) as an editorial suppliment to the play.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Conspiracies Against the People |author=Volatire |publisher=Marchen Press |year=2024 |isbn=9783989882317 |pages=9 |language=English |editor-last=Sackerson |editor-first=Julien}}</ref>
==Characters== * Octave, a triumvir * Marc-Antoine, a triumvir * Pompée, enemy of the Triumvirate * Julie, daughter of Lucius César and lover of Pompée<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to French Literature |year=1959 |pages=720}}</ref> * Fulvie, wife of Marc-Antoine * Albine, confidante of Fulvie * Aufide, a military tribune
==Premiere and reception== The play premiered on July 5 1764 at the Comédie-Française and was met with a negative reception. The play flopping had been feared in advance by several parties, including Voltaire and the theater company, Comédie-Française had been reluctant to produce the play. It closed after four performances. The play is considered to be Voltaire's only "complete failure" at the French stage.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Voltaire Almighty |last=Pearson |first=Roger |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=9781596918771 |pages=317}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Voltaire and Crébillon Père: History of an Enmity |last=LeClerc |first=Paul O. |publisher=Voltaire Foundation |year=1973 |pages=119, 133-134}}</ref>
==Art== [[File:Nicolai Abildgaard Julia og Fulvia.jpg|thumb|''Julia og Fulvia'' by Nicolai Abildgaard, held in the National Museum of Norway.]] Danish painter Nicolai Abildgaard painted several scenes from the play.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Golden Age of Danish Painting |last=Monrad |first=Kasper |publisher=Hudson Hills Press |year=1993 |isbn=9781555950866 |pages=51 |last2=Conisbee |first2=Philip}}</ref> Four of these paintings are held in a room at the Frisch House in Copenhagen. These paintings were regarded as quite politically charged.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A SET OF FOUR NEO-CLASSICAL PAINTINGS BY TIARKO CRAMER [1780-1812], THE ALLEGORICAL DESIGNS CONCEIVED BY NICOLAI ABILDGAARD |url=https://carltonhobbs.com/piece/a-set-of-four-neo-classical-paintings-by-tiarko-cramer-1780-1812-the-allegorical-designs-conceived-by-nicolai-abildgaard/ |last= |first= |date= |access-date=2026-02-13 |website=Carlton Hobbs LLC}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Voltaire}}
Category:1764 plays Category:Plays by Voltaire Category:Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Category:Cultural depictions of Augustus Category:Second Triumvirate