He held a number of offices and imperial appointments, the most important of which were governor of Britain between 52 and 57 AD, proconsul of Asia, and suffect consul in the nundinium of September to December 39 as the colleague of Domitius Afer.
[3] Didius is attested as quaestor in a senatus consultum dated to AD 19, that forbade Senators, eques, and their descendants from actively participating in gladiator games.
"[5] Didius received triumphal regalia as an imperial legate under Claudius, probably in Bosporus: Tacitus records that he commanded forces there that were withdrawn in 49.
[7] In 52 Didius was made governor of Britain, following the death in office of Ostorius Scapula, at a time when the situation was deteriorating as a result of a string of rebellions.
While Tacitus criticizes him for being reactive and defensive, Sheppard Frere argues that he was acting on instructions from Claudius who did not consider the benefits of further conquest in difficult terrain to be great enough to warrant the risk.
Quintilian tells us that, after several years of campaigning for a provincial governorship, Didius complained at the province he was offered, although whether this refers to Sicily or Britain is unknown.
This derives from local beliefs that Didius had built the fort before the arrival of Frontinus in Britain and his construction of numerous supplementary fortifications in South Wales.
[11] Though most modern linguists dismiss this derivation, the Didius connection has remained popular throughout the centuries, appearing in Camden's Britannia (1586), The Beauties of England and Wales (1815), and the writings of Iolo Morganwg and Taliesin Williams.