Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius, << LEHP uhd uhs, MAHR kuhs ih MIHL ee uhs, >> was a Roman aristocrat and senator who rose to high office. From 43 to 36 B.C., Lepidus served as a co-ruler of Rome as a member of a political alliance later known as the Second Triumvirate.
Upon the outbreak of civil war in 49 B.C., when the Roman general Julius Caesar marched on Rome illegally, Lepidus sided with Caesar. By 44 B.C., Lepidus was second-in-command to Caesar, who had become dictator and consul of Rome. Consuls were the highest elected officials in Rome’s government.
Following Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., Lepidus used his troops to support Caesar’s fellow consul Mark Antony. In return, Antony ensured that Lepidus was made pontifex maximus. The pontifex maximus held office for life as a leading religious authority. Lepidus then became the governor of Roman provinces in Spain and Gaul (now mainly France), thus assuring the Senate of his loyalty.
Following Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., Lepidus used his troops to support Caesar’s fellow consul Mark Antony. In return, Antony ensured that Lepidus was made pontifex maximus. The pontifex maximus held office for life as a leading religious authority. Lepidus then became the governor of Roman provinces in Spain and Gaul (now mainly France), thus assuring the Senate of his loyalty.
In 43 B.C., however, Lepidus deserted the Senate. He joined Octavian, who was Caesar’s heir, and Mark Antony in a successful bid to seize power as a triumvirate (rule by three men). Initially, Lepidus was given charge of Rome and the rest of Italy while Antony and Octavian pursued Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in the eastern Mediterranean region. Brutus and Cassius had led the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar.
After Brutus and Cassius had been defeated, Lepidus’s importance in the triumvirate declined. Lepidus was transferred to Africa to govern Roman territory there. He was not invited to participate in some top-level negotiations with the triumvirate’s main rival, Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great. However, Lepidus did consent to contribute forces to Octavian’s effort to crush Sextus. Octavian’s naval forces defeated Sextus at the Battle of Naulochus off the north coast of Sicily in 36 B.C. After the battle, Lepidus attempted to take over control of Octavian’s troops. Instead, Octavian persuaded Lepidus’s men to switch their allegiance to himself.
Having removed Lepidus from the triumvirate, Octavian exiled him from Rome. Lepidus retained the office of pontifex maximus, but only in name. As a public humiliation, Octavian periodically required Lepidus to attend Senate meetings. Lepidus died in 13 B.C.
