 The portico was built in 193 BC by aediles Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Aemilius Paulus from which the name of the structure and association to the gens Aemilia is derived (Livy, 35.10.12).It was subsequently rebuilt in 174 BC by censors Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Aulus Postumius Albinus (Livy, 41.27.8).The development of the Porticus coincided with the rapid growth of the city after the Second Punic War.