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The patrician Aemilii were one of the foremost political dynasties that Rome ever produced - occupying a prominent place in the annals of Rome from the early Republic through to the early Principate. Q. Aemilius Lepidus (cos. 21) was heir to that illustrious and burdensome legacy. Yet the Aemilii who grew to maturity in the last years of the Republic were inevitably eclipsed by the dramatic rise and fall of the Triumvir M. Lepidus (cos. 46, 42) who exploited the turmoil of the 40's to equal the distinguished record of his great-grandfather and name-sake who was twice consul and pontifex maximus. The more modest accomplishments of Q. Aemilius Lepidus (cos. 21) have been obscured not only by the long shadow cast by his kinsman, but by the vagaries of the evidence, and some critical lapses in the standard modern works of reference. The current enquiry concerns the relationship of Q. Lepidus to the enigmatic Barbula of Appian, B Civ. 4.49. It was long ago proposed that Q. Lepidus be identified with Barbula - with the ineluctable corollary that the proscriptus Marcus, with whom Barbula was seemingly conjoined by Fate, be identified as Lepidus' consular colleague M. Lollius (cos. 21). Since the arguments for and against the identification have never been properly canvassed, and as Lepidus and especially Lollius were figures of some importance in the early Principate, it is time the question received proper consideration.
I
It is necessary to begin with a brief excursus on the family of Q. Lepidus in order to dispel any lingering confusion. For a long time the consul of 21 was the victim of mistaken identity being conflated with Q. Aemilius Lepidus the son of the Triumvir M. Lepidus.2 For although the inscription naming the consuls of 21 on the north face of the pons Fabricius testifies that Lepidus was the son of a Manius (and hence distinct from the homonymous son of the Triumvir), the inscription was for a time condemned as an unreliable Fifteenth century restoration.3 When that opinion was shown to be groundless the true heritage of Lepidus at last began to be appreciated.4 Q. Aemilius M'. f. Lepidus (cos. 21) is the only recorded offspring of M'. Aemilius M'. f. Lepidus (cos. 66).5 Comparatively...