Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Lepidus 6.

by William Smith

6. M. or M´. Aemilius Lepidus, praetor b. c. 213. (Liv. xxiv. 43, 44.) In Livy the praenomen is Marcus ; but instead of this we ought probably to read Manius ; for we find that the M. Aemilius Lepidus who was consul in b. c. 158 is described in the Fasti as M´. f. M´. n. ; and as there was another M. Lepidus praetor in b. c. 218 [see No. 3], it is probable that the praetor in 213 was M´. Lepidus, the father of the consul of 158. Marcus was such a well-known praenomen of the Lepidi, that we can easily understand why it should be substituted for the less common one of Manius.