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Didia Clara. Augusta, AD 193. AR Denarius (18mm, 2.87 g, 1h). Rome mint. Struck under Didius Julianus. DIDIA CL ARA AVG, draped bust right / HILA R TEMPOR, Hilaritas standing left, holding palm frond set on ground in right and and cornucopia in left. RIC IV 10 (Julianus); RSC 3; BMCRE 14-16 (Julianus). Toned. Good VF. Well centered and struck.
From the Thomas A. Palmer Collection, purchased from Edward J. Waddell, August 2000.
Didia Clara, the daughter of the brief-reigning emperor Didius Julianus, was reputedly one of the most beautiful women in Rome (in which case, as the historian S. W. Stephenson notes drily, "her coins do her no justice"). After securing the throne via the infamous "auction of empire" by the Praetorian Guard, Julianus granted the title of Augusta to both his wife, Manlia Scantilla, and their daughter, Didia Clara. He also quickly had Clara married off to Sextus Cornelius Repentius, from an influential Senatorial family, who was then made Prefect of Rome and placed in charge of the city's garrison. However, Julianus reigned only 66 days and was murdered in the palace by his own Praetorians upon the approach of Septimius Severus, who the Senate proclaimed Augustus in his stead. Clara and Scantilla were spared but stripped of their titles and inheritance; Scantilla reportedly died shortly thereafter, while the fate of Didia Clara is unknown.
From the Thomas A. Palmer Collection, purchased from Edward J. Waddell, August 2000.
Didia Clara, the daughter of the brief-reigning emperor Didius Julianus, was reputedly one of the most beautiful women in Rome (in which case, as the historian S. W. Stephenson notes drily, "her coins do her no justice"). After securing the throne via the infamous "auction of empire" by the Praetorian Guard, Julianus granted the title of Augusta to both his wife, Manlia Scantilla, and their daughter, Didia Clara. He also quickly had Clara married off to Sextus Cornelius Repentius, from an influential Senatorial family, who was then made Prefect of Rome and placed in charge of the city's garrison. However, Julianus reigned only 66 days and was murdered in the palace by his own Praetorians upon the approach of Septimius Severus, who the Senate proclaimed Augustus in his stead. Clara and Scantilla were spared but stripped of their titles and inheritance; Scantilla reportedly died shortly thereafter, while the fate of Didia Clara is unknown.