Definition of Praetorian Guard

In several historical empires we find the case of an elite military body that, at specific moments or in more or less long periods, decided fate politics of the empire by putting and removing sovereigns according to their interests, as in the case of the Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire.

But, without a doubt, the most powerful and seductive military body is the Roman Praetorian Guard, to such an extent that speaking of the term “praetorian guard”Generically, designates a group of bodyguards or people close to a Leader, and that they wield a remarkable power, generally unofficial, if not in the shadows.

The Praetorian Guard was the elite body of the Roman army in charge of the protection of the emperor, founded by Augustus around 26 BC. C.

But the Praetorian Guard was not born then, but this was the transformation that would leave us the image of the Guard that we have today as a powerful elite body directly linked to power.

Initially, the Praetorian Guard was the bodyguard of the Roman generals in Republican times. Their name was given because they camped around the general's tent, the

praetor from army.

One of the first mentions that we have of this type of bodyguard is related to Publio Cornelio Escipión Emiliano in 146 BC. C, when said general besieges Numancia.

The political practice in Rome, which was inextricably linked to holding both civil and military positions, and bellicosity both citizens and political rivals, made it necessary to have an escort if one wanted to dedicate himself to the politics.

Thus, all the generals (who eventually ended up also dedicating themselves to politics) had their own Praetorian Guard, who served them in the field also as an elite troop as well as as personal defense, and in the peace to protect himself from the aggressions of the mob and the assassination attempts of his rivals.

It was the first emperor, Augustus, who realized the political value of the Praetorian Guard, so he institutionalized it as such.

Augustus recruited from among the best soldiers of the legions, and endowed the Guard with a barracks in Rome (the castra praetoria, of which remains can still be seen in Rome and which gives its name to an entire neighborhood of the city).

To the beginning, the Praetorian Guard was a purely military and escort body of the emperor. They had the best preparation among the Empire's troops, they were the best paid (up to triple that of a normal soldier, who was already well paid if charged the stipulated regularly), and had the most colorful uniforms, in addition to serving in the Praetorians gave prestige.

For example, his shield was oval, differing from the rectangular one of regular troops, while his armor, more elaborate, was finer but more resistant than that of foot troops.

The political influence of the Praetorians begins with the reign of Tiberius, the successor of Augustus, and with the prefect Sejanus. It was this who consolidated the Guard as a highly influential body that extended its tentacles beyond the protection of the emperor.

Sejanus was influential to such an extent that he became a shadow emperor, after getting rid of political rivals the hard way, such as Tiberius' own son, Drusus the Younger, whom he had murdered in 23 d. C, or Agrippina and hers, two of hers, whom he managed to exile and starve to death in AD 30. C.

Sejanus' goal was to become heir to the emperor, which he nearly achieved when Tiberius retired to the island of Capri, before falling from grace in AD 31. C. and be tried and executed.

Despite his death, Sejanus' work with the Praetorian Guard survived him; the body, probably used for achievement of her personal ends, emerged from the reign of Tiberius as a powerful and influential force politics, in which from Caligula (successor to Tiberius) all the emperors would rely to a greater or lesser extent.

Caligula was precisely the first emperor deposed by the Praetorian Guard, and his successor, Claudius, the first to be placed on his throne by it.

From here on, the Praetorian Guard was constantly involved in politics, but it did not abandon its military role; the Emperor Vitellius, in the year 69 AD. C, increased its number of troops to 16,000, a good part of them stationed in the limes (border) with Germania, and from the second century on, cavalry was added.

As a good proof of their power and influence, in 193 they assassinated Emperor Pertinax (successor of Commodus), who had wanted to put them on the trail by reforming his estate, and once he died, they auctioned the title of emperor, which Didius got Julian.

However, the same process (which ended with Septimius Severus seizing the throne) showed that after more than a century and a half wielding power, the Praetorian Guard had lost much military might, although it would still be influential.

In fact, in 217, the praetorian prefect Macrinus led the plot that ended with the assassination of Emperor Caracalla only to proclaim himself emperor.

The decline of the Praetorian Guard began in 284, when Diocletian moved the imperial headquarters to Byzantium, and took the opportunity to change the role of the Praetorians.

These were displaced from the center of power and, therefore, from the springs that allowed them to handle it.

The end point for the Praetorian Guard was their support for the pretender to the throne Maxentius and the defeat of this by Constantine (future Constantine I the Great) on October 28, 312 at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome.

Constantine did not want to reuse the Praetorians or reinvent the body of the Praetorian Guard, but it was dissolved and the survivors of the battle were discharged.

The story of the Praetorian Guard ended, but not its legend, which had already begun much earlier, with Sejanus, and which has survived to this day.

Fotolia photos: Shellystill / Pavel Bortel

Themes in Praetorian Guard