Duumvir
A duumvir or duovir (plural: duumviri or duoviri) was one of a pair of magistrates equally and jointly responsible for a particular area in the Roman system of administration. The name is literally derived from the Latin meaning ‘of two men’; duum and viri. Their joint administration is termed a duumvirate. Without further specification, the term usually refers to the duumviri iuri dicundo, the two elected officials that served as the highest judiciary magistrates in a Roman city. There were, however, a number of other dumvirates that were either elected or appointed to postings of varying length for the management of other areas of governance or administration. The duumviri quinquennales, for instance, were a pair of municipal officers elected to a one year term every five years to function as censors in municipal towns. Conversely the duumviri sacri were appointed as needed to oversee the construction of a temple.
