The Praetorian Guard sold the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus for 25,000 sesterces a soldier, and he lasted 66 days

The emperor Pertinax had divided his own property among his children and placed them with their grandfather rather than raise them in the palace. On 28 March 193 the Praetorian Guard murdered him. Cassius Dio says the guards then put the empire up for bids. Sulpicianus, the city prefect and Pertinax's father-in-law, bid from inside the camp. Didius Julianus, a rich senator, bid from outside the gates. The offers rose to 20,000 sesterces per soldier. Julianus raised it by 5,000 at once, shouting the figure and holding up his fingers, and the guards proclaimed him. He dined on the meal prepared for Pertinax while the body lay in the palace. The next day crowds called him a "stealer of the empire" and refused his money. The Historia Augusta says he paid 30,000 a man; Herodian says he could not pay what he promised. Septimius Severus marched on Rome. The Senate condemned Julianus, named Severus emperor and deified Pertinax. A soldier killed Julianus in the palace. His last words were, "But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?" He was 60 and had reigned 66 days. Severus gave the body to his wife Manlia Scantilla and daughter Didia Clara, who buried it in his great-grandfather's tomb at the fifth milestone of the Via Labicana. Didia Clara had been given her inheritance when her father took power. Severus took it from her, with her title.