Daily Roman History:

One of the claimants in the ‘Year of the Five Emperors’, Didius Julianus, was not picked due to his lineage, nor his military successes, nor even to his proximity to the Imperial regime. He was selected because after the murder of the previous Emperor, Pertinax, by the Praetorian guard a call was put out that the highest office in the Empire would go to whomever paid the most for it. After the bidding ended Julianus was selected with a bid of 25000 sesterces to every member of the Praetorian guard. The senate was threatened into approving the appointment. From the start he was not a popular ruler, with street mobs accosting him constantly. To make matters worse the remaining three claimants of the year were all capable generals who led their respective armies towards Rome. Septimus Severus, being the first to arrive, was declared Emperor, and Julianus saw his allies shrink to a single prefect and his son-in-law. 66 days after assuming the throne Didus Julianus was killed by a soldier in the palace, his last words reportedly being “But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?”.

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