Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (executed 39)

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Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, or Marcus Aemilius L.f. Lepidus (6-39) was the son of a consul by the same name (Marcus Aemilius Lepidus).[1] His sister was Aemilia Lepida who was married to Emperor Caligula's older brother Drusus Caesar. [2] He was also great-grandson of Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (consul of 50 BC and brother of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus). Some areas of his lineage are unclear. It is possible his great-grand uncle was Emperor Augustus [3] or that his great-grand mother was Augustus' first wife Scribonia, [4] depending on whether his grandfather married Cornelia Scipio or Claudia Marcella.

Lepidus married Caligula's sister Drusilla sometime in November or December of 37.[5] Little is known about him prior to this.[6] Drusilla had been married to Lucius Cassius Longinus since 33 but the couple was ordered to divorce by the emperor, so that she could marry Lepidus.[7] The marriage lasted until Drusilla's death in June of 38. They had no children. Because of this marriage, Lepidus had become a close friend to Caligula and his family.[8] After the death of Gemellus in 37, Lepidus was publicly marked by Caligula as his heir.[9] In late 38, when the governor of Egypt Aulus Avilius Flaccus was arrested, Lepidus successfully persuaded Caligula to exile Flaccus to Andros rather than Gyarus. [10][11]

However, this good-standing did not last. Sometime in 39, Caligula made public letters by his sisters Agrippina and Livilla that detailed an adulterous affair with Lepidus and a plot against the emperor.[12] Lepidus was executed and Caligula's sisters were exiled. Agrippina was given the bones of Lepidus in an urn, and she carried them to Rome.[13] Caligula sent three daggers to the Temple of Mars the Avenger to celebrate the death. In the Senate, Vespasian made a motion that the remains of Lepidus be thrown away instead of buried. The motion was carried and Lepidus was not given a proper burial.[14]


[edit] Citations

  1. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 83
  2. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 83
  3. ^ JC_stem.JPG at www.princeton.edu
  4. ^ Barrett (1989), p. viii
  5. ^ Ferrill (1991), p. 109
  6. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 82
  7. ^ Ferrill (1991), p. 109
  8. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 82
  9. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 81
  10. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 90
  11. ^ Philo, XVIII 151
  12. ^ Suetonius, 24.3
  13. ^ Ferrill (1991), p. 121
  14. ^ Barrett (1989), p. 106


[edit] References

  • Barrett, Anthony A. (1989). Caligula: The Corruption of Power. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04653-7.

[edit] External Links

  • Susan Wood. "Diva Drusilla Panthea and the Sisters of Caligula." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Jul., 1995), pp. 457-482 The article is available online (subscription required) from the JSTOR database. Lepidus's date of death is given as 39 AD in the article.
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