ABSTRACT
During the thirteen years from his praetorship in 49 to his deposition in 36 BC, Lepidus had been one of the most important figures in Roman political life. If he had been an Aemilius Lepidus born in an earlier generation he might have spent many more years serving in the Senate and performing his functions as pontifex maximus. However, Lepidus both enjoyed unusual power and authority and suffered humiliating punishment as a result of the fact that his career was caught in Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire. His days of power and prestige were now over and after 36 he was doomed to spend the final twenty-three years of his life in political impotence and virtual obscurity. Lepidus’ brief taste of power became a subject for historians and moralists, and the inevitable clash between his two former colleagues was now the main focus of discussion.
