duodecimvirate

alternative duodecemvirate

1. uncommonA group of twelve people, especially (politics) a council of twelve men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.

   The logs of each member of the covert duodecimvirate displayed identical readouts.

   2008, Michael Somers, Galactic Exodus, page 73

   4 more examples

   Strabo ſeems to ſay, there were fronting theſe halls, (which Diodorus likewiſe ſeems to diſtinguiſh from the labyrinth, ſtyling it the work of the Duodecimvirate) 27 other halls.

   1789, William Williams, Primitive History, from the Creation to Cadmus, page 482

   It is essential to [Stalin] and to his duodecimvirate that open war shall be avoided or postponed for as long as possible.

   1948, The Contemporary Review, CLXXIV, page 184

   The Tricameron…comprised…a “Senate”…and a “Praetorate,” a sort of quadruple troika or duodecimvirate: twelve men and women who implemented the Senate’s decrees, declared war or peace, and…spent most of the time squabbling amongst themselves for power.

   1984, Diane Duane, My Enemy, My Ally, page 22

   It would appear that the duodecimvirate was held after the praetorship, but before the consulate.

   1996, Michael Peachin, Iudex vice Caesaris, page 135

   Synonyms: government