Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Lepidus

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LE'PIDUS, the name of a celebrated family of the Aemilia gens, which was one of the most ancient patrician gentes. [Aemilia Gens.] This family first occurs in Roman history at the beginning of the third century before the Christian era, and from that time it became one of the most distinguished in the state. Finally, it became connected by marriage with the imperial house of the Caesars, but disappears towards the end of the first century of the Christian era. The following genealogical table is in some parts conjectural, but these are pointed out in the course of the article. (Comp. Perizonius, Animad. Hist. p. 131 ; Norisius, Cenot. Pis. p. 257, &c. ; Eckhel, vol. v. p. 123 ; Clement. Cardinal. Memorie Romane di Antichità, vol. i. p. 182 ; Orelli, Onom. Tull. vol. ii. p. 15; Drumann Gesch. Roms, vol. i. p. 1, &c.)