During theRoman Republic, the Praetorian Guards were escorts for high-ranking political officials and were bodyguards for the senior officers of theRoman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome,Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by whose influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the newcaesar of Rome. In AD 312,Constantine the Great disbanded thecohortes praetoriae and destroyed their barracks at theCastra Praetoria.[1]
The Praetorian Guard originated as bodyguards forRoman generals in the period of theRoman Republic (509–27 BC). During the longer campaigns of theRoman army of the late Republic, the personal bodyguard unit was the norm for a commander in the field. At camp, thecohors praetoria, a cohort of praetorians guarding the commander, was posted near thepraetorium, the tent of the commander.
The first historical record of the praetorians is as bodyguards for the Scipio family, ca. 275 BC. Generals withimperium (command authority of an army) also held public office, either as amagistrate or as apromagistrate; each was provided withlictors to protect the person of the office-holder. In practice, the offices ofRoman consul and ofproconsul each had twelve lictors, whilst the offices ofpraetor and of propraetor each had six lictors. In the absence of an assigned, permanent personal bodyguard, senior field officers safeguarded themselves with temporary bodyguard units of selected soldiers. InHispania Citerior, during theSiege of Numantia (134–133 BC), GeneralScipio Aemilianus safeguarded himself with a troop of 500 soldiers against the sorties ofsiege warfare aimed at killing Roman field commanders.
At the end of 40 BC, two of the three co-rulers who were theSecond Triumvirate,Octavian andMark Antony, had Praetorian Guards. Octavian installed his praetorians within thepomerium, the religious and legal boundary of Rome; this was the first occasion when troops were permanently garrisoned in Rome proper. In the Orient, Antony commanded three cohorts; in 32 BC, Antony issued coins honouring his Praetorian Guard. According to the historianOrosius,[citation needed] Octavian commanded five cohorts at theBattle of Actium in 31 BC; in the aftermath of Roman civil war, the victorious Octavian then merged his forces with the forces of Antony as symbolic of their political reunification. At this point the force numbered at most 5 400 men organised into nine cohorts.[2] Later, as Augustus, the first Roman emperor (27 BC–AD 14), Octavian retained the Praetorians as his imperial bodyguard.
Thelegionaries known as the Praetorian Guard were first hand-picked veterans of the Roman army who served as bodyguards to the emperor. First established by Augustus, members of the Guard accompanied him on active campaign, protecting the civic administrations and rule of law imposed by the Senate and the emperor. The Praetorian Guard was ultimately dissolved by EmperorConstantine I in the early 4th century. They were distinct from theImperial German Bodyguard which provided close personal protection for the early Roman emperors. They benefited from several advantages via their close proximity with the emperor: the Praetorians were the only ones admitted while bearing arms in the center of sacred Rome, thePomerium.
Their mandatory service was shorter in duration, for instance: 12 years with the Praetorians instead of 16 years in the legions starting year 13 BC, then carried to, respectively, 16 to 20 years in year 5 BC according toTacitus. Their pay was higher than that of a legionary. UnderNero, the pay of a Praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary, augmented by prime additions ofdonativum, granted by each new emperor. This additional pay was the equivalent of several years of pay and was often repeated at important events of the empire or events that touched the imperial family: birthdays, births and marriages. Major monetary distributions or food subsidies renewed and compensated the fidelity of the Praetorians following each failed particular attempted plot (such as that ofMessalina againstClaudius in AD 48 or Piso against Nero in AD 65). The Praetorians received substantially higher pay[3] than other Roman soldiers in any of the legions, on a system known assesquiplex stipendum, or by pay-and-a-half. So if the legionaries received 250denarii, the guards received 375 per annum.Domitian andSeptimius Severus increased thestipendum (payment) to 1,500 denarii per year, distributed in January, May and September.
Feared and dreaded by the population and by theRoman Senate, the Praetorians received no sympathy from the Roman people. A famous poem byJuvenal recalls the nail left in his foot by thesandal of a Praetorian rushing by him. "Praetorian" has a pejorative sense in French, recalling the often troubling role of the Praetorian of antiquity.
Inancient Rome,praetors were either civic or military leaders. The praetorians were initially elite guards for military praetors, under the republic.[4] The early Praetorian Guard was very different from what it became later, as a vital force in the power politics of Rome. While Augustus understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold theRepublican veneer of his regime. Thus, he allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, each originally consisting of 500 men. He then increased them to 1,000 men each, allowing three units to be on duty at any given time in the capital. A small number of detached cavalry units (turmae) of 30 men each were also organized. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in the towns surrounding Rome. This system was not radically changed with the appointment by Augustus in 2 BC of twoPraetorian prefects,Quintus Ostorius Scapula andPublius Salvius Aper, although organization and command were enhanced. Tacitus reports that the number of cohorts was increased to twelve from nine in AD 47. In AD 69 it was briefly increased to sixteen cohorts byVitellius, butVespasian quickly reduced it again to nine.[5]
In Rome, the guards' principal duty was to mount the Guard at the house of Augustus on the Palatine, where the centuries and theturmae of the cohort in service mounted the guard outside the emperor's palace (the interior guard of the palace was mounted by theImperial German Bodyguard, often also referred to asBatavi, and theStatores[6] Augusti, a sort ofmilitary police which were found in the general staff headquarters of the Roman Army). Every afternoon, thetribunus cohortis would receive the password from the emperor personally. The command of this cohort was assumed directly by the emperor and not by the Praetorian prefect. After the construction of the Praetorian camp in 23 BC, another similar servingtribune was placed in the Praetorian camp. The guards' functions included, among many, escorting the emperor and the members of the imperial family and, if necessary, to act as a sort of riot police. CertainEmpresses exclusively commanded their own Praetorian Guard.
According to Tacitus, in the year 23 BC, there were nine Praetorian cohorts (4,500 men, the equivalent of a legion) to maintain peace in Italy; three were stationed in Rome, and the others nearby.
According toBoris Rankov in 1994, an inscription recently discovered suggested that, towards the end of the reign ofAugustus, the number of cohorts increased to 12 during a brief period.[7] This inscription referred to one man who was the tribune of two successive cohorts: the eleventh cohort, apparently at the end of the reign of Augustus, and the fourth at the beginning of the reign ofTiberius. According to Tacitus, there were only nine cohorts in 23 AD. The three urban cohorts, which were numbered consecutively after the Praetorian cohorts, were removed near the end of the reign of Augustus; it seemed probable that the last three Praetorian cohorts were simply renamed asurban cohorts.
The Praetorians first intervened on a battlefield since the wars of the end of the Republic during themutinies ofPannonia and themutinies ofGermania. On the death of Augustus in AD 14, his successor Tiberius was confronted by mutinies in the two armies of theRhine andPannonia, who were protesting about their conditions of service being worse than the Praetorians. The forces of Pannonia were dealt with byDrusus Julius Caesar, son of Tiberius (distinct fromNero Claudius Drusus, brother of Tiberius), accompanied by two Praetorian cohorts, the Praetorian Cavalry, andImperial German Bodyguards. The mutiny in Germania was repressed by the nephew and designated heir of Tiberius,Germanicus, who later led legions and detachments of the Guard in a two-year campaign in Germania, and succeeded in recovering two of the threelegionary eagles which had been lost at theBattle of the Teutoburg Forest.
Proclaiming Claudius Emperor, byLawrence Alma-Tadema, oil on canvas, 1867. According to one version of the story of Claudius' accession, members of the Praetorian Guard found him hiding behind a curtain in the aftermath of the assassination of Caligula in AD 41, and proclaimed him emperor.
Sejanus rose in power underTiberius, and was among the first prefects to exploit his position to pursue his own ambitions. He concentrated under his command all the Praetorian cohorts in the new camp. Sejanus held the title of prefect jointly with his father, under Augustus, but became sole prefect in AD 15, and used the position to render himself essential to the new emperor Tiberius, who was unable to persuade the Senate to share the responsibility of governing the Empire. Sejanus, however, alienated Drusus, son of Tiberius, and when Germanicus, the heir to the throne, died in AD 19 he was worried that Drusus would become the new emperor. Accordingly, he poisoned Drusus with the help of the latter's wife, and immediately launched a ruthless elimination program against all competitors, persuading Tiberius to make him his heir apparent. He almost succeeded, but his plot was discovered and revealed in AD 31, and Tiberius had him killed by theCohortes urbanae, who were not under Sejanus's control.
In AD 37 Caligula became emperor with the support ofNaevius Sutorius Macro, Sejanus' successor as prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Under Caligula, whose reign lasted until AD 41, the overall strength of the Guard increased from 9 to 12 Praetorian cohorts.
In year 41, disgust and hostility of a praetorian tribune, namedCassius Chaerea – whomCaligula teased without mercy due to his squeaky voice – led to the assassination of the emperor by officers of the guard. While theImperial German Bodyguard sacked all in a search to apprehend the murderers, the Senate proclaimed the restoration of a Republic. The Praetorians, who were pillaging the Palace, discoveredClaudius, uncle ofCaligula, hidden behind a curtain. Needing an emperor to justify their own existence, they brought him forth to the Praetorian camp and proclaimed him emperor, the first emperor proclaimed by the Praetorian Guard. He compensated the guard with a prime bonus worth five years their salary. The Praetorians accompanied Emperor Claudius to Britain in 43 AD.
When Claudius was poisoned, the Guard transferred their allegiance toNero through the influence of his Praetorian prefectSextus Afranius Burrus, who exercised a beneficial influence on the new emperor during the first eight years of his reign (Burrus died in 62 AD). Officers of the Guard, including one of the two successors of Burrus as the Praetorian prefect, participated inPiso's conspiracy in year 65. The other Praetorian prefect,Tigellinus, headed the suppression of the conspiracy, and the members of the Guard were paid a bonus of 500 denarii each.
In AD 68, the new colleague of Tigellinus,Nymphidius Sabinus, managed to have the Praetorian Guard abandon Nero in favor of the contenderGalba. Nymphidius Sabinus had promised 7,500 denarii per man, but Galba refused to pay, saying "It is my habit to recruit soldiers and not buy them". This permitted his rivalOtho to bribe 23Speculatores of the Praetorian Guard to proclaim him emperor. Despite the opposition of the cohorts in service in the palace, Galba and his designated successor, the young Piso, werelynched on 15 January.
After supporting Otho against a third contender,Vitellius, the Praetorians were restrained following defeat and their centurions executed. They were replaced by 16 cohorts recruited from the legionnaires and auxiliaries loyal to Vitellius, almost 16,000 men. These ex-Praetorians then aidedVespasian, the fourth Emperor, leading the attack against the Praetorian camp.
Under the Flavians, the Praetorians formed nine new cohorts, of whichTitus, son of emperor Vespasian, became the prefect. Vespasian returned the effective strength of each unit to five hundred men. He also cancelled the guard service of the Praetorians at the entry to the emperor's palace, but retained guards within the palace itself.
Under Vespasian's second son,Domitian, the number of cohorts was increased to 10, and the Praetorian Guard participated in fighting inGermania and on theDanube against theDacians. It was in the course of these actions that the prefectCornelius Fuscus was defeated and killed in 86.
Following assassination of Domitian in 96 the Praetorians demanded the execution of their prefect,Titus Petronius Secundus, who had been implicated in the murder.
At the death ofNerva, at the beginning of 98, the Guard supportedTrajan, commander of the Army of the Rhine, as new emperor. He executed the remaining Praetorian prefect and his partisans. Trajan returned to Rome from the Rhine, probably accompanied by the new unit ofequites singulares Augusti. The Praetorian Guard had participated inTrajan's two Dacian Wars (101–102 and 105–106). The Praetorian Guard served in the lastcampaign of Trajan against the Parthians of 113–117.
During the 2nd century, the Praetorian Guard accompaniedLucius Verus in theOriental War Campaign of 161–166 AD, and accompanied Roman emperorMarcus Aurelius in his northern campaigns of 169–175 and 178–180. Two prefects were killed during these expeditions.
With the accession ofCommodus, in 180, the Praetorian Guard returned to Rome.Tigidius Perennis (AD 182–185) andfreedmanMarcus Aurelius Cleander (AD 186–190) exercised considerable influence on the emperor.Perennis was killed by a delegation of 1,500Lanciarii of the three legions ofBritain which had come to complain about his interference in the affairs of the province. Cleander abused his influence to nominate and dismiss prefects.
In 188, Cleander obtained the joint command of the Guard with the two prefects. He ordered a massacre of civilians carried out by theequites singulares Augusti, which led to an arranged battle with theUrban Cohorts.
Commodus fell victim to a conspiracy aided by his Praetorian prefectQuintus Aemilius Laetus in 192. The new emperorPertinax, who took part in the conspiracy, paid the Praetorians a premium of 3,000 denarii; however he was assassinated three months later, on 28 March 193, by a group of Guards due to his refusal to further increase the premium which had already been paid. The Praetorians then put the empire up to auction andDidius Julianus bought the title of emperor. However, the armies of the Danube chose instead the governor ofPannonia Superior,Septimius Severus, who besieged Rome and tricked the Praetorians when they came out unarmed. The Praetorian Guard was dissolved and replaced by men transferred from Septimius's army.
The new Guard of Septimius Severus made their mark against his rivalClodius Albinus at theBattle of Lyon in 197, and accompanied the emperor to theOrient from 197 to 202, then toBritannia from 208 until his death atYork in 211.
Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, lost favour with his troops by assassinating his own brother and co-emperor, Geta, immediately after his succession. Finally, in 217, while on campaign in theOrient, he was assassinated at the instigation of his prefectMacrinus.
After the elimination of the latter, the Praetorians opposed the new emperorElagabalus, priest of the oriental cult of Elagabal, and replaced him by his 13-year-old cousinSeverus Alexander in 222.
In this period the position ofPraetorian prefect in Italy came increasingly to resemble a general administrative post, and there was a tendency to appoint jurists such asPapinian, who occupied the post from 203 until his elimination and execution at the ascent of Caracalla. Under Severus Alexander thePraetorian prefecture was held by the lawyerUlpian until his assassination by the Praetorian Guard in the presence of the emperor himself.
In the spring of 238, underMaximinus Thrax, the bulk of the Praetorian Guard was employed on active service. Defended by only a small residual garrison, the Praetorian camp was attacked by a civilian crowd acting in support ofsenators and Gordian emperors in revolt against Maximinus Thrax. The failure of Maximinus Thrax to win the civil war against the contendersGordian I andGordian II led to his death at the hands of his own troops, including the Praetorians. The senatorial candidates for the throne,Pupienus andBalbinus, recalled the Praetorian Guard to Rome, only to find themselves under attack by the Praetorians. Both were killed on 29 July 238 andGordian III triumphed.
After 238, literary and epigraphic sources dry up, and information on the Praetorian Guard becomes rare. In 249, the Praetorians assassinatedPhilippus II, son of the emperorPhilip the Arab. In 272, in the reign of the emperorAurelian, they took part in an expedition againstPalmyra. In 284, Diocletian reduced the status of the Praetorians; they were no longer to be part of palace life, as Diocletian lived inNicomedia, some 60 miles (100 km) fromByzantium inAsia Minor. Two new corps, theIoviani and Herculiani (named after the gods Jove, orJupiter, andHercules, associated with the senior and junior emperor), replaced the Praetorians as the personal protectors of the emperors, a practice that remained intact with theTetrarchy. In 297 they were in Africa withMaximian. By the time Diocletian retired on 1 May 305, theirCastra Praetoria seems to have housed only a minor garrison of Rome.
During the early 4th century,CaesarFlavius Valerius Severus attempted to disband the Praetorian Guard on the orders ofGalerius. In response, the Praetorians turned toMaxentius, the son of the retired emperor Maximian, and proclaimed him their emperor on 28 October 306. By 312, however,Constantine the Great marched on Rome with an army in order to eliminate Maxentius and gain control of theWestern Roman Empire, leading to theBattle of the Milvian Bridge. Ultimately Constantine's army achieved a decisive victory against the Praetorians, whose emperor was killed during the fighting. With the death of Maxentius, Constantine definitively disbanded the remnants of the Praetorian Guard. The remaining soldiers were sent out to various corners of the empire, and theCastra Praetoria was dismantled in a grand gesture, inaugurating a new age in Roman history and ending that of the Praetorians.
While campaigning, the Praetorians were the equal of any formation in the Roman army. On the death of Augustus in 14 AD, his successor, Tiberius, was faced with mutinies among both the Rhine andPannonian legions. According toTacitus, the Pannonian forces were dealt with by Tiberius' sonDrusus, accompanied by two Praetorian cohorts, the Praetorian cavalry and some of theGerman bodyguard. The German mutiny was put down by Tiberius' nephew and adopted sonGermanicus, his intended heir, who then led the legions and detachments of the Guard in an invasion of Germany over the next two years. The Guard saw much action in theYear of the Four Emperors in 69, fighting well forOtho at the firstbattle of Bedriacum. Under Domitian and Trajan, the guard took part in wars fromDacia toMesopotamia, while with Marcus Aurelius, years were spent on the Danubian frontier during theMarcomannic Wars. Throughout the 3rd century, the Praetorians assisted the emperors in various campaigns.
The Praetorian Guard influenced and intervened in the imperial succession to name the newCaesar, which was a political decision that the unarmed Senate accepted, ratified, and proclaimed to the people of Rome. After the death ofSejanus, who was sacrificed for thedonativum (imperial gift) promised by Tiberius, the Praetorians became exceptionally ambitious in their influence upon the politics of the Roman Empire. Either by volition or for a price, the Praetorian Guard would assassinate an emperor, bully the Praetorian prefects, or attack the Roman populace. In AD 41, conspirators from the senatorial class and from the Guard killed EmperorCaligula, his wife, and their daughter. Afterwards, the Praetorians installed Caligula's uncleClaudius upon the imperial throne of Rome, and challenged the Senate to oppose the Praetorian decision.
In AD 69, theYear of the Four Emperors, after assassinating the EmperorGalba, because he did not offer them adonatium, the Praetorians gave their allegiance toOtho, whom they named as the newCaesar of Rome. To ensure the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard, Emperor Otho granted the Praetorians the right to appoint their own prefects. After defeating Otho,Vitellius disbanded the Praetorians and established a new Guard composed of sixteencohorts. In his war against Vitellius,Vespasian relied upon the disgruntled cohorts dismissed by Emperor Vitellius, and, as Emperor Vespasian, he reduced the Praetorian Guard to nine cohorts and ensured their political loyalty by appointing his son,Titus, as prefect of the Praetorians.[8]
Despite their political power, the Praetorian Guard had no formal role in governing the Roman Empire. Often after an outrageous act of violence, revenge by the new ruler was forthcoming. In 193,Didius Julianus purchased the Empire from the Guard for a vast sum, when the Guard auctioned it off after killingPertinax. Later that yearSeptimius Severus marched into Rome, disbanded the Guard and started a new formation from his own Pannonian legions. Unruly mobs in Rome often fought with the Praetorians in vicious street battles duringMaximinus Thrax's reign.
In 271,Aurelian sailed east to destroy the power ofPalmyra, Syria, with a force of legionary detachments, Praetorian cohorts, and other cavalry units, and easily defeated the Palmyrenes. This led to the orthodox view thatDiocletian and his colleagues evolved thesacer comitatus (the field escort of the emperors). Thesacer comitatus included field units that used a selection process and command structure modeled after the old Praetorian cohorts, but it was not of uniform composition and was much larger than a Praetorian cohort.
Starting in the year 2 BC, thePraetorian prefect was the commanding officer of the Praetorian Guard (previously each cohort was independent and under the orders of atribune ofequestrian rank). This role (chief of all troops stationed in Rome), was in practice a key position of the Romanpolity.
FromVespasian onwards the Praetorian prefecture was always held by an equestrian of theeques order. (Equestrians were traditionally that class of citizens who could equip themselves to serve in the Roman Army onhorseback).
From the year 2 BC, the cohorts were under the control of two prefectures; however cohorts continued to be organized independently, each commanded by a tribune. Tribunes had as immediate subordinates ordinaryCenturions, all of equal rank except for thetrecenarius, the first and prime of all centurions of the Praetorian Cohorts, who commanded also the 300speculatores, and with the exception of his second, theprinceps castrorum.[9]
From the second century the Praetorian prefect oversaw not only the Praetorian Cohorts but also the rest of the garrison of Rome, including theCohortes urbanae ("urban cohorts") and theequites singulares Augusti, but not theVigiles cohorts.
Following the dissolution of the Praetorian Cohorts by the emperor Constantine after he defeated them at theBattle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, the role of the Praetorian prefect in the Empire became purely administrative, ruling large territories (prefectures) comprising Romandioceses (geographical subdivisions of theRoman Empire) in the name of the Emperor.
The Praetorian Cohorts were designated asEquitatae (cavalry)Turmae (troops) withcenturies formed ofinfantry, initially of 500 men each.[9]
In order not to alienate the population of Rome, while conserving Republican civilian traditions, the Praetorians did not wear their armor while in the heart of the city. Instead they often wore a formal toga, which distinguished them from civilians but remained in a respectable civilian attire, the mark of a Roman citizen. Augustus, conscious of risking the only military force present in the city, often avoided concentrating them and imposed this dress code.
From the reign of Tiberius, their camp was situated on theQuirinal Hill, outside Rome. In 26 AD,Sejanus, Praetorian prefect, and the favorite of emperorTiberius, united theUrban Cohorts with nine Praetorian Cohorts, dispersed at that time throughout Italy, in one large camp situated beyond theServian Wall, on the Esquiline Hill, theCastra Praetoria.
For the 2nd century, calculations from lists of significant demobilisations suggest an increase in size to nearly 1,500 men per cohort (perhaps a doubling of 800 (since Vespasian), probably organized in 20 centuries) underCommodus in year (187–188) or under Septimius Severus (193–211), which matches the probable numbers of effectives for Urban Cohorts during the time ofCassius Dio. These figures suggest an overall size for the Guard of 4,500–6,000 men under Augustus, 12,800 underVitellius, 7,200 under Vespasian, 8,000 from Domitian untilCommodus or Septimius Severus, and 15,000 later on.[7]
At the beginning of the 2nd century, Italians made up 89% of the Praetorian Guard. Under Septimius Severus, recruitment evolved to authorize the inclusion of legionaries of the Roman army, as well as of the battle hardenedArmy of the Danube. Severus stationed his supporters with him in Rome, and the Praetorian Guards remained loyal to his choices.
Initially each cohort included, as for aRoman legion, acavalry detachment; this should not be confused with theequites singulares Augusti who appeared under the emperor Trajan. The Praetorian could become a cavalryman (Eques) after almost five years service in theinfantry. These Praetorians remained listed in their Centuries of origin, but operated in aturma of 30 men each commanded by anOptio equitum.
There was probably oneturma of cavalry for two centuries of infantry.[7] Hence, threeturmae per cohorts of theAugustan period, five per cohort in 100 CE–200 CE, and ten per cohort after 200 CE, with avexillum (flag) as emblem for eachturma.
Thespeculatores Augusti were cavalrymen assigned to the same tasks as theSpeculatores of the legions and theauxiliary units (messengers in charge of transmitting intelligence, and clandestine agents).
About 300 in total (30 per cohort), they formed a unit under the orders of the seniorCenturion, theTrecenarius. Selected for their impressive physique, they were used by the Emperor forclandestine operations and tasks such as arrests, imprisonment, and executions.
One of their roles was to accompany the emperor on his foreign campaign journeys (a role which would later be handled by theSingulares/equites singulares Augusti).Claudius was in the habit of surrounding himself withSpeculatores when attending dinners.
The close security protection detail of Galba, ofOtho and the dynastic line of the Flavians appear to have been formed ofSpeculatores (who replaced theImperial German Bodyguard disbanded byGalba).
Following the assassination of emperor Domitian, his successorNerva was placed under the protection of Trajan, to counter possible revenge attempts and mutinies. Trajan was commander of the most important army of the time, that of the Army of Germania, and he nominated him as his heir. Accordingly, and following such an act, Trajan, aiming to reinforce his security detail in relation to theSpeculatores who had remained loyal to Domitian, replaced them as close protection security detail with theSingulares/equites singulares Augusti (modelled on theSingulares of a provincial governor, a post held by Trajan). The some 300Speculatores were reassigned by Trajan to the corps of Praetorian cohorts.[9]
They were distinguished by a special (but unknown) style of boots, theSpeculatoria Caliga (according toSuetonius) and they received special honorific diplomas in bronze at demobilization. They had their own Equestrian instructors (Exercitatores).[7]
Funeral inscription of Quintus Pomponius Poeninus, soldier of the IV Praetorian Cohort[10]
Originally, the Praetorian Guard was recruited from the populations of central Italy (Etruria, Umbria andLatium according toTacitus). Recruits were between 15 and 32 years of age, compared to legionary recruits who ranged from 18 to 23 years of age. According toCassius Dio, during the first two centuries AD and before the reform ofSeptimius Severus, the Praetorians were exclusively limited to Italy, Spain (Roman province),Macedonia andNoricum (currentAustria).
Under the reign ofVitellius, and starting from Septimius Severus, men were transferred from theUrban Vigiles,Urban cohorts, and the variouslegions. This recent method and manner of recruitment at the corps of the legions became the normal procedure to recruit in the 3rd century after Septimius Severus dealt with the undisciplined Praetorians who assassinatedPertinax in 193, and replaced them with men from his own Danube legions.
At that time, the Praetorians represented the best soldiers from the legions (principally from Illyria). They were a group of elite of soldiers starting from the 3rd century, and not a category of socially privileged soldiers (such as the Italians at the time of Augustus). The Italians formed the base of the recruitment of theLegio II Parthica, a new legion created and stationed in Italy.
To be admitted to the Guard, a man had to be in good physical condition, have agood moral character, and come from a respectable family. In addition, he had to make use of all sorts of patronages available to him in order to obtain letters of recommendations from important leading figures in society. Once past the recruitment procedure he was designated asProbatus, and assigned as aMiles (soldier) to one of the centuries of a cohort. After two years, if he attracted the attention of his superiors by influence or merit, he could attain the post ofImmunis (similar to corporal), perhaps as acommis (junior chief) at general headquarters or as a technician. This promotion exempted him from daily chores. After another two years he could be promoted toPrincipalis, with a double salary, in charge of delivering messages (Tesserarius) or as an assistant centurion (Optio) or standard bearer (Signifer) at the corps of the century; or, if literate and numerate, he could join the administrative staff of the prefect.
Only a few soldiers could attain the rank ofPrincipalis; however those who did, during the course of their service, were designatedEvocati Augusti by the emperor. This designation allowed them to be promoted to technical administrative posts, or instructors in Rome, or to a century in a legion, and accordingly extend their career. Certainprincipalis could at the end of their career be promoted toCenturion in the Guard; this would be the peak of his career. Anyone ambitious for further promotion would need to transfer to a legion.
TheMilitary tribunes (Tribuni Militum) at the head of the cohorts wereRoman cavalrymen. In contrast to many superior cadres of the Army, who originated from the Equestrian Order, these tribunes started their career in the ranks of the Guard and were promoted from the ranks in the hierarchy. Next after becomingCenturions, they had to serve for a period of one year as superior centurions in one or several legions before achieving the status ofPrimus pilus (the highest ranked Centurion in a legion). Upon return toRome, they occupied successively the positions of Tribunes of the Vigiles, Tribune of the Urban Cohort and finally Tribune of the Guard.[7][11]
Other leading paths towards the tribunate were possible, including service entirely made in the legions, attaining the rank ofPrimus pilus before departing to Rome. Nevertheless, all tribunes were combat veterans with extensive military experience.[7][11] Each tribune served in Rome for one year, following which, a certain number of the men would retire.
A few of them, ranking placement at the top of the hierarchy, could obtain a second term asPrimus Pilus and advance towards the superior echelons of the equestrian career, possibly becoming the Praetorian prefect.[7][11]
The majority of the prefects, however, were ordinary men of the equestrian rank by birth. The men who attained the command of the Guard following year 2 BC wereequites with an elevated seniority, classifying right behind the prefect of Egypt. Starting from Vespasian, whose son, Titus was himself a Praetorian prefect, they were ranked first.
The Praetorian Guard, like all legionnaires, disposed of variousequipment to execute different missions. More particularly as bodyguard, escort or reserve military force, they housed adaptable equipment for each function.
A Praetorian soldier armed with standard Roman weapon in 2nd century AD
Praetorian Guard helmets included tallGalea with elaborate detail worked into the metal. Shields were ovoid and more robust compared with the regular rectangular shape sometimes used by the legions. Each legion had its own emblem displayed on itsScutum (shield) and the Praetorian Guard were probably the only unit to include additional insignia on their shields.[citation needed] Each cohort had their own version of Praetorian insignia. Praetorian Guard units could wear lion skin capes and their colours were so decorated with awards, that the men had difficulty in carrying them on long marches.
For escorts, the oval shields and lances replaced the scuta and pila. Missions in Rome at the heart of the city in principle were forbidden to soldiers, so they wore a toga.
The Praetorian Guard, like all legionaries, shared similar insignia, mainly on their shields. Praetorian Guard shields includedwings andthunderbolts, referring toJupiter, and also uniquely includedscorpions,stars andcrescents.
^In Rome, near the Emperor, they were designated asStatores Augusti (Statores Praetorianorum starting from the 3rd century); they formed anumerus assigned by the Praetorian prefect. Thisnumerus was formed of five principal centuries which commanded themilitary police. At their head, there was aCurator Statorum and aPraefectus Statorum.
Marcel Durry [fr],Les cohortes prétoriennes (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome, 146), Paris, De Boccard, 1938
Lawrence Keppie [de], "The Praetorian Guard Before Sejanus",Athenaeum 84 (1996), 101–124,Legions and Veterans (Stuttgart 2000), 99–122 & addenda at 319–320
L. Passerini,Le Coorti Pretorie (Rome 1939)
Rankov, Boris (2004).The Praetorian Guard. Oxford: Osprey.ISBN1855323613.
