June
28
/ 2022
In the year 193 AD an auction took place that sent shockwaves throughout the ancient world, as buyers competed for the greatest prize of a generation, the Roman Empire. Following the murder of emperor Pertinax by his own sworn protectors, the Praetorian Guard, the illustrious Roman Empire, like a piece of prime real estate, was put up for sale, to be given to the highest bidder. In the end, Didius Julianus, a wealthy and influential senator, would emerge as the winner. But as events unfolded, Didius Julianus would start to experience buyer’s remorse. Once a man of honor and respect, his purchase would lead not only to the further fragmentation of the empire, but to his own humiliating demise. Surveying
