Edging around spot of unrest, runs into seven Roman rulers (9)
I believe the answer is:
triumviri
'rulers' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for triumviri that I've seen before include "Officials representing ancient Roman" , "Old rulers" , "Roman team" , "Three (Roman) jointly responsible administrative officers" , "ruling group" .)