Reconstruction of image of Didius Julianus

Reconstruction of the image of Didius Julianus, the emperor who ruled Rome for three months in 193 CE at the age of 60.

At the end of 192 CE, Emperor Commodus died, and in March 193 CE the praetorians killed his successor – Pertinax. According to historian Cassius Dio, nearly 60-year-old Didius learned about it at a feast. The drunken senator decided to reach for the imperial purple himself. To this end, he went to the praetorian barracks, counting on their support in exchange for a promise of high pay. In the barracks he outbid the praetorian prefect Emilius Letus, who also wanted to buy power from his subordinates, offering each soldier 25,000 sesterces.

Eventually, Julianus was so hated that he was murdered by the praetorians in the palace, and Rome was captured by Septimius Severus.