Lot 4405

AR Denarius (Rome AD 193, 2.97 g) - MANL SCANTILLA AVG Draped bust right / IVNO REGINA Juno standing left holding patera and sceptre, peacock at feet to left (RIC 7a) - Old cabinet tone, good VF, a rare coin, RRR (ex Naville 21, 610). The very rare issues of Manlia Scantilla were produced in a two month period between April and May 193 A.D. Manlia Scantilla was very briefly Roman Empress as wife to the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus. Her husband became emperor on 28 March 193 (known as 'Year of the Five Emperors'). On that day, Scantilla and her daughter were awarded the title of Augusta by a decree of the Roman Senate. Scantilla enjoyed her title and status for less than three months because Julianus was killed on 1 June 193. The new emperor, Septimius Severus, removed her status and title as Augusta, but gave Scantilla and her daughter the former emperor's body for burial. Within a month of Severus' accession to the throne, Scantilla died in obscurity. The fate of Didia Clara is unknown.