Today in History: An Emperor Assassinated

On this day (June 1) in 193, Emperor Didius Julianus was assassinated by a soldier to make way for his successor, Emperor Septimius Severus. Didius served for only nine weeks after quite literally buying the imperial throne by offering each soldier of the Praetorian Guard 25,000 sesterses (a brass coin worth about one-quarter of a silver denarius). Didius Julianus immediately upset the people of Rome by reversing a recent monetary reform and reducing the amount of silver in the denarius. The outcry led three legion commanders to refuse to recognize him. One of them, Septimius Severus, marched on Rome and quickly gained the support of the Senate. Just before his murder, Didius Julianus is reported to have asked: “But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?”