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After our article on the Roman Emperors of North African origin, where we write that Septimius Severus was the first African Emperor, a reader wrote to us that Septimius Severus‘ predecessor Didius Julianus also had African origins. In this article, we will answer this comment, and explain why we consider Septimius Severus, not Didius Julianus, as the first African Emperor.
Didius Julianus was a rich Roman aristocrat, who, after Emperor Pertinax was murdered, bought the Imperial throne by promising 25000 sesterces to each soldier in the Praetorian Guard. His proclamation as Emperor caused an uprising, as the army was shocked to see the throne sold to the highest bidder. Didius Julianus reigned only for a few months, before he was killed by Septimius Severus.
Did Didius Julianus have African origins? His father was a dignitary from Mediolanum (Milan), Italy, while his mother was originally from Hadrumetum (Sousse), and came to live in Italy after she married his father.
So we can see that Didius Julianus indeed did have connections with Africa, through his mother, even though he was born and raised in Italy. He also served as proconsul of Africa (after Pertinax, whom he also succeeded as Emperor).
However, the family of Didius Julianus’ mother wasn’t native African: they were Roman aristocrats who had settled in Africa after the fall of Carthage. Also, Didius Julianus did all his career in Italy and didn’t identify as an African, unlike Septimius Severus, who was fluent in Punic and took great pride in his origins. For those reasons, it doesn’t seem correct to us to describe Didius Julianus as an “African Emperor”.
