Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (Drusilla's Man)

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Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (* 6 ; † 39 ) was a Roman politician and brother-in-law of Emperor Caligula .

Life

Lepidus was probably a son of the consul of the same name of the year 6 and a nephew of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus . He was also a great-grandson of Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (consul 50 BC and brother of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ). He and his sister Aemilia Lepida († 36) were each married to siblings of the emperor Caligula: Aemilia married Caligula's older brother Drusus Caesar , Lepidus the younger sister Drusilla .

Lepidus was a close friend and, according to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, also lover of Caligula, who publicly designated him as heir to the throne and heir after the death of Tiberius Gemellus . Around the same time, in late 37 / early 38, the emperor Lepidus married Drusilla, after he had previously forced her to divorce Lucius Cassius Longinus . The marriage lasted until Drusilla's death in June 38; the couple had no children. When the prefect of Egypt , Aulus Avillius Flaccus , was deposed in October 38, Lepidus managed to get the emperor to banish the prisoner not to the dreaded Gyaros , but to Andros .

The good relationship between Lepidus and Caligula did not last long after Drusilla's death. In 39 Caligula publicized letters from his sisters Agrippina and Livilla detailing an adulterous affair with Lepidus and a conspiracy against the emperor. Lepidus was executed and the two women sent into exile. Caligula sent three daggers to the Temple of Mars Ultor to celebrate the death of his ex-brother-in-law. Agrippina received the remains of Lepidus in an urn and brought them to Rome, but the Senate , following a recommendation from Vespasian , refused an honorable burial.

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personal data
SURNAME Aemilius Lepidus, Marcus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician, brother-in-law of Caligula
DATE OF BIRTH 6th
DATE OF DEATH 39