Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a Roman statesman and general. After the death of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, he attempted to undermine the Sullan constitution and revive the populares faction. This brought him into conflict with the optimates whom Sulla had put back in power. In 77 BC, when he was recalled from his proconsulship of Gaul, he returned to Rome at the head of an army and an armed conflict erupted. Lepidus' forces were defeated in a battle near the Milvian Bridge and as a result his rebellion failed. He was the father of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and of one of the consuls for 50 BC Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus.