 In 78 BC, he was consul with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who after the death of Sulla proposed the overthrow of his constitution, the re-establishment of the distribution of grain, the recall of the banished, and other measures in the populares spirit.Catulus vigorously opposed this, and a temporary compromise was effected.But Lepidus, having levied troops in his province of Transalpine Gaul, returned to Rome at the head of an army.