![ROMAN. Didius Julianus, Denarius, 'PM TR P COS' [ARI-422] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ARI-422-1.jpg)
Description
Roman Empire, Mārcus Dīdius Iūliānus (Didius Julianus), Roman Emperor March – June 193 AD and the second of the Year of the Five Emperors, Silver Denarius (2.45g, 17mm), Rome mint 193 AD. Obverse: Laureate head of Didius Julianus facing to the right, legend surrounds, “IMP CAES M DID IVLIAN AVG”. Reverse: The Divine Personification of the Imperial Cult of Virtues, Fortūna Augusta, stands left, draped and resting cornucopia in left arm and resting right hand on rudder surmounting a globe, legend surrounds, “PM TR P COS”. RIC-2; RSC-10; Sear-6073. A rather attractive example of Didius Julianus featuring an expressive portrait and distinct visual appeal, very well centred with all devices present, good Very Fine, scarce.
The Latin legend spans across both obverse and reverse, reading unabridged as “Imperātōr Caesar Mārcus Dīdius Iūliānus Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribūnīciā Potestāte, Cōnsul”, with an English translation of “Imperator Caesar Marcus Didius Julianus Augustus, Chief High Priest of the College of Pontiffs, holder of Tribunician Power, Consul”.
In regards to the reverse deity portrayed here: originally, Fortuna was the Roman deity of fate and chance – after the rise of the Roman Empire, rather than being a goddess of capricious luck, she evolved into a major Divine Personification of the Imperial Cult of Virtues specifically tied to moral authority, character, and political legitimacy of the emperor. She holds a Cornūcōpia – the horn of plenty – which represented the economic abundance and security of grain supply resulting from an emperor’s blessed reign, and she controls a ships rudder – the gubernāculum – which symbolised her power to steer human fate and, by extension, the emperor’s role in guiding the course of the Roman state. The idea of ‘Fortūna Augusta’ was particularly important for the first Roman emperor, Augustus, as he shifted the state from a Republic to an empire; Augustus faced legitimacy issues from a Roman people that bitterly hated the concept of a monarchy, and he constantly had to prove his authority was morally right, constitutional, and divinely sanctioned. This point was also important for the emperor of this offered denarius, Didius Julianus, who faced legitimacy issues resulting from the fact that he had just purchased the title of emperor in an auction run by the Praetorian Guard after the death of Pertinax, and needed to prove his legimitacy over his political rivals also claiming Imperial Power: Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger.
