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Marcus Didius Severus Julianus (30 January 133–193) was briefly Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 from 28 March 193 to 1 June 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax
Pertinax

Publius Helvius Pertinax, commonly known as Pertinax , was a Roman emperor who briefly reigned from December 31 192 until his death on March 28 193....
. This led to the Roman Civil War of 193–197. Julianus was ousted and sentenced to death by his successor, Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Empire general, and Roman Emperor from April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the Libyan part of Rome's historic Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa Province....
.

anus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus
Quintus Petronius Didius Severus

Quintus Petronius Didius Severus was a Roman who lived in the 2nd century. Severus? family was one of the most prominent and significant families in Midolanensis or Mediolanum ....
 and Aemilia Clara
Aemilia Clara

Aemilia Clara was a Roman woman who lived in the 2nd century. She and her family originally came from the colony of Hadrumetum, Africa .She was most probably the namesake of her mother....
. Julianus's father came from a prominent family in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
 and his mother was an African woman, of Roman descent.






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Marcus Didius Severus Julianus (30 January 133–193) was briefly Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 from 28 March 193 to 1 June 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax
Pertinax

Publius Helvius Pertinax, commonly known as Pertinax , was a Roman emperor who briefly reigned from December 31 192 until his death on March 28 193....
. This led to the Roman Civil War of 193–197. Julianus was ousted and sentenced to death by his successor, Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Empire general, and Roman Emperor from April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the Libyan part of Rome's historic Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa Province....
.

Early life

Julianus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus
Quintus Petronius Didius Severus

Quintus Petronius Didius Severus was a Roman who lived in the 2nd century. Severus? family was one of the most prominent and significant families in Midolanensis or Mediolanum ....
 and Aemilia Clara
Aemilia Clara

Aemilia Clara was a Roman woman who lived in the 2nd century. She and her family originally came from the colony of Hadrumetum, Africa .She was most probably the namesake of her mother....
. Julianus's father came from a prominent family in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
 and his mother was an African woman, of Roman descent. Clara came from a family of consular rank. His brothers were Didius Proculus and Didius Nummius Albinus. His date of birth is given as January 30, 133 by Cassius Dio and February 2, 137 by the Historia Augusta. Didius Julianus was raised by Domitia Lucilla
Domitia Lucilla

Domitia Lucilla, Lucilla or Domitia Calvilla was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 2nd century. She is famous as the mother of the future emperor Marcus Aurelius, and also as the patron of another future emperor, Didius Julianus....
, mother of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
. With Domitia's help, he was appointed at a very early age to the vigintivirate
Vigintisexviri

The Vigintisexviri was a college of minor magistrates in the Roman Republic; the name literally means "Twenty-Six Men". The college consisted of six boards:...
, the first step towards public distinction. He married a Roman woman called Manlia Scantilla
Manlia Scantilla

Manlia Scantilla was a Roman woman who lived in the 2nd century. She was very briefly Roman Empress as wife to the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus....
 and about 153, Scantilla bore him a daughter and only child Didia Clara
Didia Clara

Didia Clara was a daughter and only child to the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus and Empress Manlia Scantilla. She was born and raised in Rome....
.

Career

He held in succession the offices of Quaestor
Quaestor

Quaestor is a type of public official.In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers....
, and then Aedile
Aedile

Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals....
, and then around 162 Julianus was named as Praetor
Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
. He was nominated to the command of the Legio XXII Primigenia
Legio XXII Primigenia

Legio vigesima secunda Primigenia , dedicated to the goddess Fortuna Roman legion levied by Roman Emperor Caligula in 39, for his campaigns in Germania....
 in Mogontiacum (now Mainz
Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
). Starting in 170 he became praefectus of Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany....
 for five years. As reward for his skill and gallantry in repressing an insurrection among the Chauci
Chauci

The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribes that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany between Frisia in the west and the Elbe estuary in the east....
, a tribe dwelling on the Elbe
Elbe

The River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Germany and flowing into the North Sea....
, he was raised to the consulship in 175, along with Pertinax
Pertinax

Publius Helvius Pertinax, commonly known as Pertinax , was a Roman emperor who briefly reigned from December 31 192 until his death on March 28 193....
. He further distinguished himself in a campaign against the Chatti
Chatti

The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribes whose homeland was near the Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Werra river regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel, though probably so...
, ruled Dalmatia
Dalmatia (Roman province)

Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrians called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in the 1st millennium BC....
 and Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, and then was made prefect charged with distributing money to the poor of Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. About this time he was charged with having conspired against the life of Commodus
Commodus

Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus , was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192 . The name given here was his official name at his accession to sole rule; see 'Commodus#Changes of name' for earlier and later forms....
, but had the good fortune to be acquitted, and to witness the punishment of his accuser. He also governed Bithynia
Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thrace Bosporus and the Euxine ....
, and succeeded Pertinax as the proconsul
Proconsul

Ancient RomeIn the Roman Republic, a proconsul was a promagistrate who, after serving as consul, spent a year as a Roman governor of a Roman province....
 of Africa
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
.

Rise to power

After the murder of Pertinax (28 March 193), the Praetorian assassins announced that the throne was to be sold to the man who would pay the highest price. Titus Flavius Sulpicianus, prefect of the city
Praefectus urbi

Praefectus urbanus, or praefectus urbi, Prefect#Ancient Rome of the city of Rome, and later of Constantinople. The office originated under the Kingdom of Rome#Kings of Rome, continued during the Republic and Empire, and held high importance in late antiquity....
, father-in-law of the murdered emperor, being at that moment in the camp to which he had been sent to calm the troops, began making offers, when Julianus, having been roused from a banquet by his wife and daughter, arrived in all haste, and being unable to gain admission, stood before the gate, and with a loud voice competed for the prize. As the bidding went on, the soldiers reported to each of the two competitors, the one within the fortifications, the other outside the rampart, the sum offered by his rival. Eventually Sulpicianus promised 20,000 sesterces to every soldier, and Julianus fearing that Sulpicianus would gain the throne, immediately offered 25,000. The guards immediately closed with the offer of Julianus, threw open the gates, saluted him by the name of Commodus, and proclaimed him emperor. Threatened by the military, the Senate
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 declared him emperor. His wife and his daughter both received the title Augusta.

Reign

After the initial confusion had subsided, the population did not tamely submit to the dishonour brought upon Rome. Whenever Julianus appeared in public he was saluted with groans, imprecations, and shouts of "robber and parricide." The mob tried to obstruct his progress to the Capitol
Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in the Romanesco....
, and even threw stones.

When news of the public anger reached the generals in different parts of the empire, Pescennius Niger
Pescennius Niger

Gaius Pescennius Niger was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194. Niger was born of an old Italian equestrian family.File:Denarius-Pescennius Niger-RIC 0015var.jpg...
 in Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
, Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Empire general, and Roman Emperor from April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the Libyan part of Rome's historic Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa Province....
 in Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, and Clodius Albinus
Clodius Albinus

Decimus Clodius Septimius Al?binus was a Roman usurper proclaimed Roman Emperor by the legions in Roman Britain and Hispania upon the murder of Pertinax....
 in Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, each having three legions
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
 under his command, refused to recognize the authority of Julianus. Julianus declared Severus a public enemy because he was the nearest and therefore most dangerous foe. Deputies were sent from the Senate to persuade the soldiers to abandon him; a new general was nominated to supersede him, and a centurion
Centurion

Centurion may refer to:...
 dispatched to take his life. The Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
, long strangers to active military operations, were marched into the Campus Martius
Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km? in extent. In the Middle Ages it was the most populous area of Rome....
, regularly drilled, and trained in the construction of fortifications and field works. Severus, however, having secured the support of Albinus by declaring him Caesar
Caesar

Caesar or C?sar may refer to the following:...
, progressed towards the city, made himself master of the fleet at Ravenna
Ravenna

Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The city is inland, but is connected to the Adriatic Sea by a canal. Ravenna once served as the seat of the Western Roman Empire and later the Ostrogoths and the Exarchate of Ravenna....
, defeated Tullius Crispinus, the Praetorian Prefect
Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the constant title of a high office in the Roman Empire state that changed fundamentally in nature.The praetorian prefect was commander of the Praetorian Guard until Constantine I abolished the guard in 314....
, who had been sent to halt his progress, and gained over to his cause the ambassadors sent to seduce his troops.

The Praetorian Guard, lacking discipline, and sunk in debauchery and sloth, were incapable of offering any effectual resistance. Matters being desperate, Julianus now attempted negotiation, and offered to share the empire with his rival. But Severus ignored these overtures, and still pressed forwards, all Italy declaring for him as he advanced. At last the Praetorians, having received assurances that they would suffer no punishment, provided they would surrender the actual murderers of Pertinax, seized the ringleaders of the conspiracy, and reported what they had done to Silius Messala, the consul, by whom the Senate was summoned and informed of the proceedings. The Senate passed a motion proclaiming Severus emperor, awarding divine honours to Pertinax, and sentencing Julianus to death. Julianus was deserted by all except one of the prefects and his son-in-law, Repentinus
Sextus Cornelius Repentinus

Sextus Cornelius Repentinus was a Ancient Rome politician who lived in the 2nd century. His father an elder Sextus Cornelius Repentinus, was a quaestor and head of the Praetorian Guard during the reign of Roman emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius ....
. Julianus was killed in the palace by a soldier in the third month of his reign (1 June 193). Severus dismissed the Praetorian Guard and executed the soldiers who had killed Pertinax. According to Cassius Dio, who lived in Rome during the period, Julianus's last words were "But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?" 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
Via Labicana

The Via Labicana was an ancient Roman road of Italy, leading east southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have superseded the Via Latina as a route to the southeast, for, while the distance from Rome to...
.

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