ABSTRACT
The death of Lepidus as a disgraced outlaw in 77 BC must have left a major void in the lives of his two surviving sons. Lucius was about 15 or 16 at the time and Marcus 11 or 12. Although it seems unusual for the youngest son to receive his father’s praenomen, it is quite possible that the eldest son had been called ‘Marcus’ before becoming ‘Scipio’ or that the future triumvir received the name only after the deaths of his father and oldest brother. This does not explain why Lucius Paullus was not renamed ‘Marcus’ in preference to his younger brother, but he may of course have chosen to keep his distinguished name.
