The Dirac equation implies negative energies as well as positive. This is due to energy-momentum relation $E=\pm \sqrt{m^2+p^2 }$. If we replace $E$ and $p$ by operators $E\to i\frac{\partial }{\partial t}$ and $p\to -i\nabla$ we get the Klein-Gordon equation $(\Box+m^2)\phi=0$ for scalar (spinless) fields $\phi$. The problem with this equation is that it gives solutions with negative probability density and negative energy.
In order to overpass the problem with negative probability density, Dirac made the K-G equation linear in time derivative $\frac{\partial }{\partial t}$ (and in space derivative to make it covariant). So he get the following equation (the Dirac equation): $(i\gamma^{\mu}\partial_{\mu}-m)\psi=0$ for particles with 1/2-spin (fermions: electrons, protons etc.).
The Dirac equation gives positive probability densities which is good, but the problem with negative energy quantum states remained. To overpass this problem, Dirac postulated that the universe is filled with infinitely dense "sea" of negative energy particles (electrons), the Dirac sea. Due to Pauli exclusion principle no other electron can fall into the Dirac sea, but sometimes one electron can leave the Dirac sea creating a hole which would act like positive energy electron with opposite charge - the positron, experimentally discovered by Carl Anderson. This holes are called antiparticles.
But the Dirac sea theory has some problems, like the problem of infinite charge of the universe and the fact that the bosons, which have antiparticles too, do not obey the Pauli exclusion principle and the hole theory doesn't work for them. This problems are solved in quantum field theory.