Caveat emptor…
From Least Helpful, “Daily Dispatches from the Internet’s Worst Reviewers”…
As we hone our critical faculties, we might recall that it was on this date in 193 that Didius Julianus (Marcus Didius Severus Julianus Augustus) out-bid his rivals in an auction to become Emperor of Rome; the sale was held by the Praetorian Guard, which had just assassinated the prior Emperor, Pertinax. The method of his ascension and his bone-headed moves on taking power (e.g., arbitrarily devaluing Roman currency) precipitated the Roman Civil War of 193-197… but Julianus didn’t live to see the outcome; he was murdered in his palace three months after acceding to the throne, and succeeded by Septimus Serverus.
Didius Julianus (source)