Manlia Scantilla
Encyclopedia
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus , was Roman Emperor for three months during the year 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax. This led to the Roman Civil War of 193–197...
. Her name indicates that she was born into the gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
Manlia, which if correct, indicates an illustrious patrician ancestry; however, she may have been descended from a freed slave belonging to a member of that gens.
Manlia Scantilla married the general Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus , was Roman Emperor for three months during the year 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax. This led to the Roman Civil War of 193–197...
before his succession. Around 153, she bore Julianus a daughter and only child Didia Clara
Didia Clara
Didia Clara was a daughter and only child to the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus and Empress Manlia Scantilla. She was born and raised in Rome....
, who was known for her beauty. Apparently Scantilla was extremely ugly, due to an unknown deformity.
Her husband became emperor on 28 March 193. On that day, Scantilla and her daughter, were awarded the title of Augusta
Augusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
by a decree of the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
. Scantilla enjoyed her short lived title and status for less than three months. Her husband was killed on 1 June 193. The new emperor Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
, removed her status and title as Augusta, but gave Manlia Scantilla and her daughter the former emperor's body for burial. 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 her only child Didia Clara
Didia Clara
Didia Clara was a daughter and only child to the Roman Emperor Didius Julianus and Empress Manlia Scantilla. She was born and raised in Rome....
is unknown.