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Roman Empire

Ruler: Didia Clara, dughter of Didius Julianus and Manlia Scantilla
Reigned: (Didius Julianus)28th March - 1st June 193 AD
Denomination: Orichalcum Sestertius
Mint: Rome
Date of Issue: May - June 193 AD
Obverse: Draped bust right, hair elaborately waved and coiled on back of head. "DIDIA CLARA AVG."
Reverse: Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm and cornucopiae. "HILAR. TEMPOR. S. C."
Reference: RIC IV 20, Cohen 4, RCVM 6087
Weight: 14.41 gms
Diameter: 27 mm

DIDIA CLARA, daughter of Didius Julianus

Didia Clara was the daughter of Didius Julianus and Manlia Scantilla and a noted society beauty. Together with her mother, she was given the rank of Augusta immediately following Julianus' aquisition of the Imperial throne, a most unusual step to be taken at the very outset of a new reign.

Didia Clara was married to Cornelius Repentius who, having been appointed city prefect of Rome by his father-in-law, may well have been marked out for the eventual succession. However, the couple's meteoric rise to the very pinnacle of Roman society ended abruptly at the beginning of June when Julianus was deposed and executed. Deprived of her inheritance by the new emperor Septimius Severus, Didia Clara and her mother retired into relative obsurity of private life and nothing further is known of them.

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R14020