Lepĭda, a noble woman, accused of attempts to poison her husband, from whom she had been separated for 20 years. She was condemned under Tiberius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 22.——A woman who married Scipio.——Domitia, a daughter of Drusus and Antonia, great niece to Augustus, and aunt to the emperor Nero. She is described by Tacitus as a common prostitute, infamous in her manners, violent in her temper, and yet celebrated for her beauty. She was put to death by means of her rival Agrippina, Nero’s mother. Tacitus.——A wife of Galba the emperor.——A wife of Cassius, &c.
Lepĭdus Marcus Æmĭlius, a Roman, celebrated as being one of the triumvirs with Augustus and Antony. He was of an illustrious family, and, like the rest of his contemporaries, he was remarkable for his ambition, to which were added a narrowness of mind, and a great deficiency of military abilities. He was sent against Cæsar’s murderers, and some time after, he leagued with Marcus Antony, who had gained the heart of his soldiers by artifice, and that of their commander by his address. When his influence and power among the soldiers had made him one of the triumvirs, he showed his cruelty, like his colleagues, by his proscriptions, and even suffered his own brother to be sacrificed to the dagger of the triumvirate. He received Africa as his portion in the division of the empire; but his indolence soon rendered him despicable in the eyes of his soldiers and of his colleagues; and Augustus, who was well acquainted with the unpopularity of Lepidus, went to his camp and obliged him to resign the power to which he was entitled as being a triumvir. After this degrading event, he sunk into obscurity, and retired, by order of Augustus, to Cerceii, a small town on the coast of Latium, where he ended his days in peace, B.C. 13, and where he was forgotten as soon as out of power. Appian.—Plutarch, Life of Augustus.—Florus, bk. 4, chs. 6 & 7.——A Roman consul, sent to be the guardian of young Ptolemy Epiphanes, whom his father had left to the care of the Roman people. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 67.—Justin, bk. 30, ch. 3.——A son of Julia the granddaughter of Augustus. He was intended by Caius as his successor in the Roman empire. He committed adultery with Agrippina when young. Dio Cassius, bk. 59.——An orator mentioned by Cicero, Brutus.——A censor, A.U.C. 734.
Lepīnus, a mountain of Italy. Columella, bk. 10.
Lepontii, a people at the source of the Rhine. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 20.
Lepreos, a son of Pyrgeus, who built a town in Elis, which he called after his own name. He laid a wager that he would eat as much as Hercules; upon which he killed an ox and ate it up. He afterwards challenged Hercules to a trial of strength, and was killed. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 5.
Leprium, or Lepreos, a town of Elis. Cicero, bk. 6, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 5.
Leptĭnes, a general of Demetrius, who ordered Cnæus Octavius, one of the Roman ambassadors, to be put to death.——A son of Hermocrates of Syracuse, brother to Dionysius. He was sent by his brother against the Carthaginians, and experienced so much success, that he sunk 50 of their ships. He was afterwards defeated by Mago, and banished by Dionysius. He always continued a faithful friend to the interests of his brother, though naturally an avowed enemy to tyranny and oppression. He was killed in a battle with the Carthaginians. Diodorus, bk. 15.——A famous orator at Athens, who endeavoured to set the people free from oppressive taxes. He was opposed by Demosthenes.——A tyrant of Appollonia in Sicily, who surrendered to Timoleon. Diodorus, bk. 16.
Leptis, the name of two cities of Africa, one of which, called Major, now Lebida, was near the Syrtes, and had been built by a Tyrian or Sidonian colony. The other, called Minor, now Lemta, was about 18 Roman miles from Adrumentum. It paid every day a talent to the republic of Carthage, by way of tribute. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 251.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 19.—Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 77.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 3, li. 256.—Cæsar. Civil Wars, bk. 2, ch. 38.—Cicero, bk. 5, Against Verres, ch. 59.
Leria, an island in the Ægean sea, on the coast of Caria, about 18 miles in circumference, peopled by a Milesian colony. Its inhabitants were very dishonest. Strabo, bk. 10.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 125.
Lerĭna, or Planasia, a small island in the Mediterranean, on the coast of Gaul, at the east of the Rhone. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 3.