Didius Julianus

Marcus Didius Julianus (/ˈdɪdiəs/; 29 January 133 or 137 – 2

Didius Julianus
June 193)[3] was Roman emperor for nine weeks from March to
June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors.

Julianus had a promising political career, governing several

provinces, including Dalmatia and Germania Inferior, and
defeated the Chauci and Chatti, two invading Germanic tribes. He
was even appointed to the consulship in 175 along with Pertinax
as a reward, before being demoted by Commodus. After this
demotion, his early, promising political career languished.

Julianus ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian

Guard, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax. A civil war
ensued in which three rival generals laid claim to the imperial
throne. Septimius Severus, commander of the legions in Pannonia
and the nearest of the generals to Rome, marched on the capital,
gathering support along the way and routing cohorts of the
Praetorian Guard Julianus sent to meet him. Abandoned by the
Senate and the Praetorian Guard, Julianus was killed by a soldier
in the palace and succeeded by Severus. Bust, Residenz Museum, Munich
Roman emperor
Reign 28 March – 2 June 193
Contents Predecessor Pertinax

Early life Successor Septimius Severus

Public service Born 29 January 133 (Dio) or

Career as Emperor 137 (SHA)
Reign Mediolanum, Italy
Execution (193) Died 2 June 193 (aged 56 or
Legacy 60)
Rome, Italy
Popular culture
Spouse Manlia Scantilla
Notes
Issue Didia Clara
References
Names
External links
Marcus Didius (Severus)
Julianus[1][2]
Early life Father Quintus Petronius
Didius Severus
Julianus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus and
Aemilia Clara.[4] Julianus's father came from a prominent family Mother Aemilia Clara
in Mediolanum, modern-day Milan, and his mother was a North
African woman of Roman descent, from a family of consular rank. His brothers were Didius Proculus and
Didius Nummius Albinus.[4] His date of birth was 29 January, the year given as 133 by Cassius Dio and 137
by the Historia Augusta.[5]

Didius Julianus was raised by Domitia Calvilla, mother of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.[6] With Domitia's
help, he was appointed at a very early age to the vigintivirate, the first step towards public distinction.[7] He
married a Roman woman named Manlia Scantilla, and sometime around 153, she bore him a daughter, Didia
Clara, their only child.[8]

Public service
In succession Julianus held the offices of quaestor[7] and aedile,[9] and then, around 162, was named as
praetor.[9] He was nominated to the command of the Legio XXII Primigenia in Mogontiacum (now
Mainz).[10] In 170, he became praefectus of Gallia Belgica and served for five years.[11] After repelling an
invasion by the Chauci,[11] a tribe dwelling in the drainage basin of the river Scheldt, the northwestern coastal
area of present-day Germany, he was raised to the consulship in 175 along with Pertinax.[12]

He further distinguished himself in a campaign against the Chatti,[13] governed Dalmatia[14] and Germania
Inferior. [15] He was then made prefect, charged with distributing money to the poor of Italy.[15] Modern
historians generally consider this a demotion for political reasons, as Commodus, the Roman Emperor at the
time, feared Julianus' growing power.[16] It was around this time that he was charged with having conspired
against the life of Commodus, but the jury acquitted him and instead punished his accuser.[15] Afterwards, he
governed Bithynia[17] and succeeded Pertinax as the proconsul of North Africa.[18]

Career as Emperor
After the murder of Pertinax on 28 March 193, the Praetorian guard
announced that the throne was to be sold to the man who would pay
the highest price.[19] Titus Flavius Claudius Sulpicianus, prefect of
Rome and Pertinax's father-in-law, who was in the Praetorian camp
ostensibly to calm the troops, began making offers for the throne.[20]
Meanwhile, Julianus also arrived at the camp, and since his entrance
was barred, shouted out offers to the guard.[21]

After hours of bidding, Sulpicianus promised 20,000 sesterces to

every soldier; Julianus, fearing that Sulpicianus would gain the throne,
then offered 25,000.[22] The guards closed with the offer of Julianus,
threw open the gates, and proclaimed him emperor.[23] Threatened by
Coin of Didius Julianus. Inscription:
the military, the senate also declared him emperor.[24] His wife and his
CAES. M. DIDI. IVLIAN. AVG.
daughter both received the title Augusta.[25]

Reign
Upon his accession, Julianus immediately reversed Pertinax's monetary reforms by devaluing the Roman
currency to near pre-Pertinax levels.[26]

Because Julianus bought his position rather than acquiring it conventionally through succession or conquest,
he was a deeply unpopular emperor.[27] When Julianus appeared in public, he frequently was greeted with
groans and shouts of "robber and parricide."[28] Once, a mob even obstructed his progress to the Capitol by
pelting him with large stones.[29]

When news of the public anger in Rome spread across the Empire, three influential generals, Pescennius Niger
in Syria, Septimius Severus in Pannonia, and Clodius Albinus in Britain, each able to muster three legions,
rebelled. They refused to accept Julianus' authority as emperor and instead declared themselves emperor.[30]
Julianus declared Severus a public enemy because he was the nearest of the three to Rome, making him the
most dangerous foe.[31] Julianus sent senators to persuade Severus' legionaries to abandon him,[32] a new
general was nominated to replace him, and a centurion dispatched to take Severus' life.[33]

The Praetorian Guard had rarely fought in field battles, so Julianus marched them into the Campus Martius and
drilled the guard in the construction of fortifications and field works.[34] Despite this training, the Praetorian
Guard was still undertrained compared to the field legionaries of Severus. Severus first secured the support of
Albinus, declaring him Caesar,[35] and then seized Ravenna and its fleet.[36] Severus killed Tullius Crispinus,
the Praetorian prefect, who was sent to negotiate with Severus and slow his march on Rome[37] and won over
to his cause the ambassadors sent to turn his troops.[38][16]

Cassius Dio maintained that the Praetorian Guard tried to fight back, but were crushed,[39] while modern
historians believe that the Praetorian Guard simply abandoned Julianus, deserting en masse.[16] Julianus
attempted to negotiate with Severus, offering to share the empire with his rival,[40] but Severus ignored these
overtures and pressed forward. As he marched, more and more cities in Italy supported his claim to the
throne.[41] The remnants of the Praetorian Guard received pardons from Severus in exchange for surrendering
the actual murderers of Pertinax. After seizing the ringleaders and killing them, the soldiers reported what they
had done to Marcus Silius Messala, the consul, who summoned the senate to inform them of the
proceedings.[42]

The Senate passed a motion proclaiming Severus emperor, awarded divine honours to Pertinax, and sentenced
Julianus to death.[43] Julianus was deserted by all except one of the prefects and his son-in-law, Cornelius
Repentinus.[44]

Execution (193)

Julianus was killed in the palace by a soldier on 2 June 193 AD, after a mere 66 days of ruling.[5] Severus
dismissed the Praetorian Guard and executed the soldiers who had killed Pertinax, the previous emperor.[45]
According to the contemporary Roman historian Cassius Dio, Julianus' last words were: "But what evil have I
done? Whom have I killed?"[46] His body was given to his wife and daughter, who buried it in his great-
grandfather's tomb by the fifth milestone on the Via Labicana.[47] The Senate passed a damnatio memoriae
motion to condemn Julianus and his legacy.[16]

Legacy
Julianus repelled invasions by the Chatti and the Chauci, both of which helped protect Rome's border
provinces. In the long run, the two tribes he repelled were but the harbingers of far larger Germanic migrations
that would only truly finish in the sixth century AD.

As emperor, Didius Julianus was unable to pass any major policy reforms in his short reign other than currency
devaluation. While the currency devaluation was comparatively minor, he restarted the trend of devaluing the
Roman currency which had abated under Pertinax's reign. The trend he started, which would continue under
the Severan dynasty at a far larger scale, destroyed confidence in Rome's currency, led to rampant
hyperinflation, and caused widespread economic upheaval.[48] Moreover, his blatant purchase of the throne
shattered any illusions of normalcy in the Roman Empire.[49]
Popular culture
In the movie The Fall of The Roman Empire, Julianus is played by Eric Porter and depicted as a scheming
henchman of Commodus. At the end of the movie, Julianus and Pescennius Niger, played by Douglas Wilmer,
another crony of Commodus, compete against each other in the auction for the throne of Rome.

Notes
1. Hammond, p. 33. "His Life says he took Severus on his accession".
2. Wotawa, col. 412.
3. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.5: "He had lived sixty years, four months, and the same number of days,
out of which he had reigned sixty-six days." Dio's calculations can give 28 January and 1 June
by using inclusive counting.
4. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.2
5. Dio, lxxiv, 17.5; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 8–9.
6. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.3.
7. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.4.
8. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 3.4.
9. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.5.
10. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.6.
11. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.7.
12. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.8, 2.3; Pertinax, 14.5.
13. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.8.
14. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 1.9.
15. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 2.1.
16. "Didius Julianus" (https://www.livius.org/articles/person/didius-julianus/didius-julianus-2/).
Livius.org. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
17. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 2.2.
18. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 2.3; Pertinax, 4.1, 14.5.
19. Herodian, ii.6.4.
20. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 11.1; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 2.4, 2.6.
21. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 11.3; Herodian, ii.6.8.
22. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 11.5.
23. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 11.5; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 2.7; Herodian, ii.6.11.
24. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 12; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 3.3.
25. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 3.4, 4.5.
26. Vicki Leon. "Friends, donors and countrymen" (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-le
on-ancient-campaign-finance-20140825-story.html). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August
2014.
27. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 13.2–5; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 4.2–7; Herodian, ii.7.3.
28. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 13.3.
29. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 4.2, 4.4.
30. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 14.3–4; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 5.1–2.
31. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 5.3; Septimius Severus, 5.5.
32. Historia Augusta, Septimius Severus, 5.5.
33. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 5.4–8.
34. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 16.1–2; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 5.9; Herodian, ii.11.9.
35. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 15.1–2.
36. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 16.5; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 6.3.
37. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 6.4.
38. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.1; Historia Augusta, Septimius Severus, 5.6.
39. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 16.3.
40. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.2; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 6.9, Septimius Severus, 5.7;
Herodian, ii.12.3.
41. Herodian, ii.11.6.
42. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.3.
43. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.4; Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 8.7; Herodian, ii.12.6.
44. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 8.6.
45. Cassius Dio, lxxv, 1.1.
46. Cassius Dio, lxxiv, 17.5.
47. Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus, 8.10.
48. Kenneth W. Harl, Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700, Part 700 (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=5yPDL0EykeAC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false), p.126
49. Jack Emerson Brown (2015). "THE ARCHITECTS OF ROME'S DEMISE: THE ROLE OF
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS IN THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN
EMPIRE AS A POLITICAL ENTITY" (http://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/17068/Br
own%2C%20Jack.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y) (PDF). University of Delaware: 27.

References
Dio Cassius, Roman History, Epitome of Book LXXIV (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/
Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/74*.html), 11–17
Hammond, Mason (1957). "Imperial Elements in the Formula of the Roman Emperors during
the First Two and a Half Centuries of the Empire" (https://archive.org/details/memoirsofamerica
25ameruoft). Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 25: 19–64. doi:10.2307/4238646 (htt
ps://doi.org/10.2307%2F4238646). JSTOR 4238646 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238646).
Historia Augusta, Didius Julianus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Histor
ia_Augusta/Didius_Julianus*.html)
Herodian, Roman History (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/),
ii.6–13
Meckler, Michael L., "Didius Julianus (193 A.D.)" (http://www.roman-emperors.org/didjul.htm),
De Imperatoribus Romanis
Wotawa, August von, "Didius 8", Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft,
volume 9 (https://archive.org/details/PaulysReal-encyclopadieDerClassischenAltertumswissen
schaftVolume9-10/page/n103/mode/2up) (V.1), Metzlerscher Verlag (Stuttgart, 1903), columns
412–424.

External links
Coinage of Didius Julianus (http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/didius_julianus/i.html)
Biography at Roman-emperors.org (http://www.roman-emperors.org/didjul.htm)
Livius.org: Didius Julianus (https://www.livius.org/di-dn/didius/julianus.html)
 Regnal titles
Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman emperor Septimius Severus
Pertinax 193 Pescennius Niger
Clodius Albinus

Political offices
Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman consul
T. Pomponius Proculus
L. Calpurnius Piso 175
Vitrasius Pollio II
P. Salvius Julianus with Pertinax
M. Flavius Aper II

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