Aemilia Lepida is the name of several ancient Roman women belonging to the '' gens Aemilia''. The name was given to daughters of men belonging to the Lepidus branch of the Aemilius family. The first Aemilia Lepida to be mentioned by Roman historians was the former fiancée of the younger Cato. Subsequent Aemiliae are known because of their marriages.

Aemilia Lepida (1st century BC), wife of Metellus Scipio

This Aemilia was daughter of Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, wife of

Metellus Scipio Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (c. 95 – 46 BC), often referred to as Metellus Scipio, was a Roman senator and military commander. During the civil war between Julius Caesar and the senatorial faction led by Pompey, he was a staunch supp ...

and former fiancée of Cato. Her daughter was

Cornelia Metella Cornelia Metella ( 73 BC – after 48 BC) was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica (who was a consul in 52 BC and originally from the gens Cornelia). She appears in numerous literary sources, including an official dedicat ...

, last wife and widow of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

the Great. Although Aemilia Lepida was engaged to be married to

Cato the Younger Marcus Porcius Cato "Uticensis" ("of Utica"; ; 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger ( la, Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the ...

, she in fact married someone else, leaving Cato to marry Atilia. In the words of

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

When
ato ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches * Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia * ATO fuse * Automatic train operation * Assisted take off Mil ...
thought that he was old enough to marry — and up to that time he had consorted with no woman — he engaged himself to Lepida, who had formerly been betrothed to Metellus Scipio, but was now free, since Scipio had rejected her and the betrothal had been broken. However, before the marriage Scipio changed his mind again, and by dint of every effort got the maid. Cato was greatly exasperated and inflamed by this, and attempted to go to law about it; but his friends prevented this, and so, in his rage and youthful fervour, he betook himself to iambic verse, and heaped much scornful abuse upon Scipio, adopting the bitter tone of
Archilochus Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ...
, but avoiding his license and puerility. Lepida and Cato were first cousins with Lepida's father and Cato's mother being blood siblings.

Aemilia Lepida, wife of Domitius Ahenobarbus

Aemilia Lepida may have been the name of the wife of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Nero), due to the name of Ahenobarbus's granddaughter,

Domitia Lepida the Younger Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealth ...

. Her only child was her son

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC) Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (49 BC – AD 25) was the son of consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Aemilia Lepida. His mother was a paternal relative of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. His paternal grandmother was Porcia (sister to Ca ...

. Her son married

Antonia Major Antonia the Elder. (born August/September 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, being the eldest daughter of Octavia the Younger and her second husband, the Triumvir Mark Antony. She married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and be ...

, a niece of Roman Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

and a daughter to Augustus' sister

Octavia Minor Octavia the Younger ( la, Octavia Minor; c. 66 BC – 11 BC) was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-gr ...

and

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

. Their children were

Domitia Lepida the Elder Domitia (ca. 8 BC-June 59) was the oldest child of Antonia Major and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and the oldest granddaughter to triumvir Mark Antony by Octavia Minor, a great-niece of the Roman Emperor Augustus, second cousin and sister-in-la ...

, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32) and

. Aemilia died before 31 BC.

Aemilia Lepida, wife of L. Cornelius Sulla Faustus

Aemilia Lepida was a Roman noble woman who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the first wife of

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Faustus Lucius Cornelius Sulla was a Roman senator of the Augustan age. He was ordinary consul as the colleague of Augustus in 5 BC. The only other office attested for him was as a member of the ''Septemviri epulonum'', which he was co-opted into after ...

, who was consul in 5 BC. She bore him several children including her son, suffect consul of 31,

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus Faustus Cornelius Sulla was a Roman senator who lived during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He was suffect consul in AD 31 with Sextus Tedius Valerius Catullus as his colleague. Faustus was the son of Sulla Felix, a member of the Arval Brethren ...

. One of her daughters-in-law was

a great niece of Emperor

and a granddaughter of triumvir

. One of her grandchildren was consul

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix (22 – 62 AD) was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Ancient Rome. Life Felix was the son of Domitia Lepida the Younger and the suffect consul of 31, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Lucullus, a ...

Aemilia Lepida, wife of Servilius

A relative of

Claudia Marcella Minor Claudia Marcella Minor (''PIR2'' C 1103, born some time before 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor Augustus. She was the second surviving daughter of the emperor's sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellu ...

is attested to have been a wife of a Servilius. She may have been the daughter of Lepidus the triumvir.

Aemilia Lepida (exiled 20), niece Lepidus the Younger

Aemilia Lepida was the niece of

Lepidus the Younger Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger or Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor (; died 30 BC) was a son of triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and his wife Junia Secunda, a half-sister of Caesar's assassin Brutus. Lepidus was executed by Octavian, the futur ...

and sister to Manius Aemilius Lepidus. She married the wealthy senator

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC – AD 21), also translated as Cyrenius, was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, t ...

. In her younger years, she was engaged to Emperor

’ heir

Lucius Caesar Lucius Caesar (17 BC – 20 August AD 2) was a grandson of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. The son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder, Augustus' only daughter, Lucius was adopted by his grandfather along with his older brother, ...

. She had borne a daughter to senator

Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus (died AD 34) was a Roman rhetorician, poet and senator. Tacitus writes that Scaurus was "a man of distinguished rank and ability as an advocate, but of infamous life." He was suffect consul from July to the end of the y ...

. In 20, she was charged with adultery, poisoning, consulting astrologers, falsely to claim to bear a son to her ex-husband and attempting to poison her ex-husband. At her trial her brother defended her. During her trial, the Games were held. Other distinguished ladies, accompanied her into the theatre and protested her innocence to Emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

. She was found guilty and was exiled.

Aemilia Lepida (1st century), wife of Galba

Aemilia Lepida was daughter of Manius Aemilius Lepidus, consul in AD 11. This Aemilia Lepida is usually identified with Lepida, wife of the short-lived Roman Emperor

Galba Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...

. She bore him two sons before her death. She died relatively young, and their sons also died young. Galba never remarried.Suetonius
''Twelve Caesars'': "Galba"
When Lepida lived,

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Clau ...

(a widow after Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus' death) tried to make shameless advances to Galba, who was devoted to his wife and thus completely uninterested. On one occasion Lepida's mother gave Agrippina the Younger, while in the company of a whole bevy of married women, a public reprimand and slapped her in the face.

Aemilia Lepida, fiancee of Claudius

Aemilia Lepida (4/3 BC – ?) was the daughter of Lucius Aemilius Paullus and his wife

Julia the Younger Vipsania Julia Agrippina (19 BC – c. AD 29) nicknamed Julia Minor (Classical Latin: IVLIA•MINOR) and called Julia the Younger by modern historians, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was emperor Augustus' first grandda ...

. She was the first great-grandchild of the Emperor

, and at one time was a fiancée of the future Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

. Lepida had several children with her husband, Marcus Junius Silanus, and two of her sons became consuls.

Aemilia Lepida (died 36), wife of Drusus

Aemilia Lepida (died 36) was daughter of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus,

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in 6 and niece to the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus (executed 14 AD). Despite her uncle's disgrace, and due to her father's high standing with the Roman emperors and the Senate, she married her second cousin

Drusus Caesar Drusus Julius Caesar (c. AD 8 – 33) was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Nero. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Drusus was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. ...

. According to Dio she was rumoured to have been a mistress of

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian ...

. Tacitus reports that during their marriage "she had pursued her husband with ceaseless accusations". In 36, she was charged with adultery with a slave and committed suicide, "since there was no question about her guilt".''Annales'' 6.40

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepida, Aemilia Ancient Roman prosopographical lists of women Aemilii Lepidi