Praetoriāni
The body-guard of the Roman emperor. Even in the armies of the Republic there had been a
separate corps, the
cohors praetoria, to guard the general, and protect
the headquarters. The organization of a body-guard for the emperor, one of whose permanent
powers was the
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Praetoriani. (Relief in the Louvre.)
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chief military command, was among the first administrative measures of Augustus. The
supreme command was generally held by two
praefecti praetorio in the
emperor's name. The guard consisted of nine, and at a later time, of ten
cohortes praetoriae, each composed of ten centuries of infantry and ten squadrons of
cavalry (
turmae), and commanded by a
tribunus (see
Tribuni Militum). They had higher rank and
pay than the legions, and a shorter time of service (sixteen years instead of twenty). While
the other cohorts were stationed at various places in Italy, where the emperors were in the
habit of staying, there were quartered in Rome, to keep watch in the emperor's palace, three
cohorts, which at first were billeted on separate parts of the city, until under Tiberius they
were placed in a fortified camp (
castra praetoria) to the northeast of
the city, outside the walls. By being thus united, they gained such importance that they were
often able to raise an emperor to the throne, and to overthrow him. To break down their
influence and to make them simply a picked corps, Septimius Severus, towards the end of the
second century, brought legions to Italy, and made a regulation that the Guard, which had
hitherto been recruited exclusively from Italy and a few Romanized provinces, should have its
ranks filled up from deserving legionary soldiers, and should serve for a longer time. To be
thus transferred to the Guard was considered a promotion. The Guard was disbanded by
Constantine the Great.
