Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Who was Marcus Aemilius Lepidus?

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, was a Roman patrician who was triumvir with Octavian and Mark Antony, and the last Pontifex Maximus of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously been a close ally of Julius Caesar.

Lepidus has always been portrayed as the weakest member of the triumvirate. He was disparaged by a number of ancient historians as feeble and untrustworthy. He typically appears as an easily 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 Lepidus' opponents, principally Cicero, and later, Augustus.