to exaggerate the impact of the major players"; Lepidus' noble ancestry, public work on the basilica Aemilia, and possible bribery (if believing Sallust) certainly also played to his advantage before the electoral comitia. It also is unclear whether Sulla in fact opposed Lepidus' candidature. During his term, Lepidus exploited the grievances of those who had lost the civil war against Sulla, campaigning against a public of funeral for Sulla, who had died that year, and also for a damnito memoriae on the dictator. However, his consular colleague Quintus Lutatius Catulus, with the support of Pompey, was successful in securing the dictator a lavish public funeral, perhaps out of the interest of the post-Sullan victors to legitimise Sulla's laws and reforms. Lepidus, during his consulship, continued however to agitate for the restoration of confiscated property, re-enfranchisement of those who lost their civil or political rights under Sulla, recall of exiled citizens, and repeal of Sullan legislation. Many of those who had profited or otherwise benefitted from the proscriptions opposed recall of the exiles, who would likely initiate prosecutions against or demand return of property from them. He also was successful in securing the passage of a lex frumentaria (law providing for the distribution of grain) to the urban plebs. He opposed, however, restoration of the political rights of the tribunes, arguing – in a now lost speech – that restoration would not be in the public interest. He also quarrelled with his colleague over the appointment of an urban prefect. Lepidus' populist rhetoric "brought results, perhaps even unforeseen results" with an uprising at Faesulae in Etruria where the townsmen attacked the garrisons and colonies of Sulla's veterans. Lepidus and his colleague Catulus were assigned by the senate to deal with the emergency. Gruen remarks explicitly that "evidently the senate did not feel that Lepidus'... pronouncements had compromised him to the point where he could not be sent to stifle an insurrection inspired by his own propaganda". Lepidus had expected to widen his political support after Sulla's death by canvassing with opponents of the dictator, actions which were not seen by the senate as indicative of revolutionary sedition. Soon after arriving in Etruria, however, the insurgents acclaimed Lepidus as their leader, a position he accepted in the face of mass popular support in the region. Even after Lepidus had sided with the rebels, the senate did not act against him, awarding him