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| Manlia Scantilla | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | |||||||||
 Coin featuring Manlia Scantilla | |||||||||
| Roman empress | |||||||||
| Tenure | Three months in 193 | ||||||||
| Spouse | Emperor Didius Julianus | ||||||||
| Issue | Didia Clara | ||||||||
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Manlia Scantilla ( fl. 193) [1] was a Roman woman who lived in the second century. She was very briefly Roman Empress as wife to the Roman emperor Didius Julianus. [2] Her name indicates that she was born into the gens Manlia , which if correct, indicates an illustrious patrician ancestry.
Manlia Scantilla married the senator Didius Julianus before his succession. Around 153, she bore Julianus a daughter and only child, Didia Clara, who was known for her beauty.
Her husband became emperor on 28 March 193 (known as "Year of the Five Emperors"). [3] On that day, Scantilla and her daughter were awarded the title of Augusta by decree of the Roman Senate. [4] 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. [5] [6] The two women buried Julianus in a tomb alongside his great-grandfather, outside of Rome. Within a month of Severus' accession to the throne, Scantilla died in obscurity. The fate of Didia Clara is unknown.
