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Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (; 89 BC – late 13 or early 12 BC)Weigel, Lepidus: The Tarnished Triumvir pp. 9–10, 98 was a Ancient Rome general and statesman who formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Augustus and Mark Antony during the final years of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously been a close ally of Julius Caesar. He was also the last pontifex maximus before the Roman Empire, and (presumably) the last interrex and magister equitum to hold military command. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol I, pp. 539–555 ("Caesar", No. 18); pp. 424–431 ("Augustus"); pp. 584, 585 ("Calvinus", No. 4).
Though he was an able military commander and proved a useful partisan of Caesar, Lepidus has always been portrayed as the least influential member of the Triumvirate. He typically appears as a marginalised figure in depictions of the events of the era, most notably in Shakespeare's plays. While some scholars have endorsed this view, others argue that the evidence is insufficient to discount the distorting effects of propaganda by his opponents, principally Cicero and, later, Augustus.
Lepidus married Junia Secunda, half-sister of Marcus Junius Brutus and sister of Marcus Junius Silanus, Junia Prima and Junia Tertia, Cassius Longinus's wife. Lepidus and Junia Secunda had at least one child, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger.
In Spain, Lepidus was called upon to quell a rebellion against Quintus Cassius Longinus, governor of neighbouring Hispania Ulterior. Lepidus refused to support Cassius, who had created opposition to Caesar's regime by his corruption and avarice. He negotiated a deal with the rebel leader, the quaestor Marcellus, and helped to defeat an attack by the Mauretanian king Bogud. Cassius and his supporters were allowed to leave and order was restored. Caesar and the Senate were sufficiently impressed by Lepidus's judicious mixture of negotiation and surgical military action that they granted him a Roman triumph.
Lepidus was rewarded with the in 46 after the defeat of the Pompey in the East. Caesar also made Lepidus magister equitum ("Master of the Horse"), effectively his deputy.Holland, Rubicon, 346. Caesar appears to have had greater confidence in Lepidus than in Mark Antony to keep order in Rome, after Antony's inflammatory actions led to disturbances in 47. Lepidus appears to have been genuinely shocked when Antony provocatively offered Caesar a crown at the Lupercalia festival, an act that helped to precipitate the conspiracy to kill Caesar.Lepidus was probably sitting next to Caesar at the time. According to Cicero, he groaned, turned away, and had tears in his eyes. See Weigel, Lepidus: The Tarnished Triumvir, p. 40.
When in February 44 Caesar was elected dictator for life by the Senate, he made Lepidus magister equitum for the second time. The brief alliance in power of Caesar and Lepidus came to a sudden end when Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 (the Ides of March). Caesar had dined at Lepidus's house the night before his murder. One of the ringleaders of the conspiracy, Gaius Cassius Longinus, had argued for the killing of Lepidus and Mark Antony as well, but Marcus Junius Brutus had overruled him, saying the action was an execution and not a political coup d'état.Holland, Rubicon, 347.
At this point, Pompey's surviving son Sextus Pompey tried to take advantage of the turmoil to threaten Spain. Lepidus was sent to negotiate with him. Lepidus successfully negotiated an agreement with Sextus that maintained the peace. The Senate voted him a public thanksgiving festival. Lepidus thereafter administered both Hispania and Narbonese Gaul as proconsul.Weigel Lepidus: The Tarnished Triumvir p.50
When Antony attempted to take control of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) by force and to displace Decimus Brutus, the Senate, led by Cicero, called on Lepidus to support Brutus – one of Caesar's killers. Lepidus prevaricated, recommending negotiation with Antony. After Antony's defeat at the Battle of Mutina, the Senate sent word that Lepidus' troops were no longer needed. Antony, however, marched towards Lepidus's province with his remaining forces. Lepidus continued to assure the Senate of his loyalty, but engaged in negotiations with Antony. When the two armies met, large portions of Lepidus's forces joined up with Antony. Lepidus negotiated an agreement with him, while claiming to the Senate that he had no choice. It is unclear whether Lepidus' troops forced him to join with Antony, whether that was always Lepidus's plan, or whether he arranged matters to gauge the situation and make the best deal.Weigel Lepidus: The Tarnished Triumvir pp. 59–62.
Unlike the First Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, this one was formally constituted. In effect, it sidelined the and the Senate and signalled the death of the Roman Republic. The triumvirate's legal lifespan was for five years. At the beginning Lepidus was confirmed in possession of both the provinces of Hispania, along with Narbonese Gaul, but also agreed to hand over seven of his legions to Octavian and Antony to continue the struggle against Brutus and Cassius, who controlled the eastern part of Roman territory. In the event of a defeat, Lepidus' territories would provide a fall-back position. Lepidus was to become consul and was confirmed as Pontifex Maximus. He would assume control of Rome while they were away.
According to Lepidus's biographer Richard D. Weigel, Lepidus' willingness to give up his legions inevitably consigned him to a subsidiary role in the triumvirate.
Lepidus also agreed to the that led to the death of Cicero and other die-hard opponents of Caesar's faction. Later historians were particularly critical of him for agreeing to the death of his brother Lucius Paullus, a supporter of Cicero. However, Cassius Dio hints that Lepidus helped Paullus to escape.
During Lepidus' proconsulship of Africa, he promoted the distribution of land to veterans, possibly in order to build up a network of clients. He appears to have encouraged the Romanisation of Thibilis in Numidia and to have demolished illicit extensions to Carthage. In result, the formally cursed area of the old city, destroyed after the Third Punic War, was not built upon.
On 22 September 36 BC, Lepidus was stripped of all his offices except that of Pontifex Maximus; Octavian then confined him to Circeii. After the defeat of Antony in 31 BC, Lepidus' son Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor became involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Octavian, but the plot was discovered by Gaius Maecenas. The younger Lepidus was executed, but the former triumvir himself was left unmolested. His wife Junia was, however, implicated. Lepidus had to plead with his former enemy Lucius Saenius to grant her bail.Weigel, Lepidus: The Tarnished Triumvir, p.97.
Spending the rest of his life in relative obscurity, Lepidus was apparently obliged to return to Rome periodically to participate in Senate business. Octavian, now known as "Augustus", is said to have belittled him by always asking for his vote last. Lepidus died peacefully in late 13 BC, upon which Augustus was elected to the position of Pontifex Maximus on 6 March 12 BC; afterwards, the chief priest's office was moved from the Regia to Augustus' palace, located on the Palatine Hill in Rome.
Such views are reflected in Shakespeare's portrayal of Lepidus in Julius Caesar in which Antony describes him as "a slight, unmeritable man, meant to be sent on errands", comparable to a donkey required to bear burdens. In Antony and Cleopatra he is portrayed as extremely gullible, asking Antony silly questions about Egypt while very drunk. Antony taunts him with an elaborately nonsensical description of a Nile crocodile. After Lepidus's fall from power, he is referred to as the "poor third" and "fool Lepidius".Shakespeare, Wiliam, Antony and Cleopatra, Cambridge university Press, 2008, Act III, scene 5.
Modern writers have often been equally dismissive. Ronald Syme called him "a flimsy character...perfidious and despised". Weigel argues that these views are coloured by evidence that was in large part politically motivated, and that Lepidus's career was no more perfidious or inconsistent than that of the other major players in the power struggles at the time. Léonie Hayne says that he acted "skillfully and consistently in support of Antony and (indirectly) of the Caesarian faction". She also argues that his power bid over Sicily was logical and justifiable.Hayne, Léonie, "Lepidus' Role after the Ides of March", Acta Classica, 14, 1971, pp. 116–17; "The Defeat of Lepidus in 36 B.C.", Acta Classica 17, 1974, pp. 59–65. Alain Gowing has also argued that his actions in Sicily, though "futile", were no more than an "attempt to regain a position from which he had been unfairly thrust".Quoted, Weigel, p. 135.
Lepidus appears in several 18th century French plays, such as Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon's Le Triumvirat, ou la mort de Cicéron, in which he attempts to save Cicero's life, and is portrayed as a conflicted figure, who respects traditional Roman values, but is unable to resist the will of his colleagues. Cicero rejects compromise, but Lepidus is too weak to do so. Voltaire's Le Triumvirat refers to Lepidus as a pawn, merely used by Antony and Octavian.
Lepidus appears in a number of novels. He is the principal character of Alfred Duggan's 1958 historical novel Three's Company. As the novel's title implies, it is centered on the second triumvirate, but relates the period through the lens of Lepidus' life and experiences. According to Weigel, he becomes a kind of "a Don Quixote in a toga". The novel follows the standard portrayal of him as "cowardly, stupid, shying away from combat, dominated by women, and longing for someone to give him orders". A reviewer at the time of publication referred to Duggan's Lepidus as "the eternal conservative stuffed shirt without the moral strength to live by the traditional virtues he admires and pretends to possess."Orville Prescott, New York Times, 13 August 13, 1958, p.25. He is portrayed as a more competent figure in W. G. Hardy's The Scarlet Mantle and The Bloodied Toga. In Allan Massie's Let the Emperor Speak, he is a weasely politician.Weigel, Lepidus: the Tarnished Triumvir, p.133. He is also mentioned in Robert Harris' Dictator, told from the perspective of Cicero's secretary Tiro.
In the BBC/HBO TV series Rome, Lepidus (Ronan Vibert) is portrayed in the familiar way, as an inadequate rival for the powerhouses of Octavian and Antony. Much of his involvement in the second Triumvirate is barely mentioned in the series. No mention is made of his alliance with Antony and Caesar before the assassination. He is depicted as a general sent to defeat the weakened Antony after Mutina. His whole army immediately defects to his enemy. He appears sporadically as a barely-noticed participant in later discussions about future plans.
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