353 | Roman Empire

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DIDIUS JULIANUS. Denarius. (Ar. 2.77g/19mm). 193 AD Rome. (RIC 3). Obv: Laureate head of Didio Juliano to right, around legend: IMP CAES M DID IVLIAN AVG. Rev: Didio Juliano standing on the left with a toga and carrying a globe, around it legend: RECTOR ORBIS. Very Fine. Scarce specimen.

The rarity of Didio Juliano's coinage lies in the fact that he was emperor for only a few months, specifically from March 28 to June 1 of the year 193. He replaced the murdered Pertinax in office, who in turn replaced the also murdered Commodus. Precisely his promises to rehabilitate the memory of the latter, together with the succulent donation that he promised to each of the soldiers, led Didio to legitimize himself as emperor with the titles of Augustus and Father of the Nation. The historian Casio Dio, a contemporary of the events, tells it in this very clear way:

“When [Didius Julianus] heard of Pertinax's death, he made haste for the imperial throne. Then a very shameful and unworthy affair of Rome took place. Well, as if it were a market or an auction, the city and its entire empire were auctioned off. The sellers were those who had killed their previous emperor, and the possible buyers were Sulpicius and Didius Julianus, who were competing to outbid each other... Little by little they raised their offers to 20,000 sesterces for each soldier. Some of the soldiers took the word to Juliano: "Sulpicio offers so much; how much more do you do?" And to Sulpicio in turn: "Juliano promises so much; how much more do you raise him?". Sulpicio would have won the game, being prefect of the city and also the first to name the figure of 20,000, if Juliano had not raised his offer by 5,000 integers at once, shouting the sum aloud and indicating the amount with his fingers.