Praetorian Guard: description, features, history and interesting facts

The Praetorian Guard, born in the years of the republic and established under the empire, later played a huge political role. Even the emperors had to reckon with the Praetorians, since they could displace the disliked, and some people were compelled to occupy the throne, officially remaining bodyguards of the emperors and consuls.

Occurrence

It is officially believed that the founder of the first praetorian cohorts is Augustus. It was he who first created such military formations. However, even under the republican system, similar units already existed. The generals were surrounded by close warriors, friends and freedmen, who were the support and bodyguards of major military figures. They did not go to distant conquests, but always remained with their "master".

It must be said that the Praetorian Guard was formed mainly from young men of high social status. Many wanted to become part of the cohort. Why? Because the young men who entered this formation were always with the ruler, they had access to the richest trophies, besides, their service was not as heavy as that of the legionaries. Of no small importance here was the fact of rapid career growth.

Praetorians under Augustus

Emperor Augustus created the Praetorian units exclusively as a counterweight to the border legions, and they were stationed in all corners of Italy. In the capital there were only 3 cohorts. In total, 9 cohorts with 4,500 people were created. At the head of each stood the prefect of Pretoria.

Under Augustus, the number of soldiers of each such unit numbered 500 people, in the future this figure grew to 1000, and possibly even 1,500 by the beginning of the 3rd century AD. E.

Augustus himself never concentrated in Rome more than three Praetorian cohorts. After Augustus, under Tiberius, the entire Praetorian Guard, numbering 14 cohorts, was located in the capital under the command of one commander. It was a powerful force.

Privileges and peculiarities of Praetorians

In contrast to the legionaries who served 25 years, the Praetorians were in the service for 16 years. At the same time, their salaries on average by 330% were higher than those of legionnaires on constant campaigns and sometimes in intolerable conditions. Praetorians had to pay a good price so that they would not be displeased with the service, which could lead to a coup.

Praetorians were reluctant to go on military campaigns and were rarely involved in this. But in conspiracies these were the first persons and actively participated in them during the time of the empire.

In the ranks of cohorts were residents of Italy and neighboring provinces, already long in subordination to Rome. Of the most notable young men and skillful warriors, the Praetorian Guard was recruited. History still changed the original order of recruiting Praetorians. After they again tried to dislodge the emperor, Septimus Sever dispersed all the Praetorians and recruited new ones, but from among the Danube legions, who were loyal to him.

During the performance of their duties, the Praetorians dressed in toga, considered the clothing of the nobility and the rich. The banners of the cohorts depicted the portraits of the ruler, his family, as well as the names of the battles that ended with the victory of the emperor.

The main duty

Praetorian Guards of Rome, the main duty was to protect the emperor and his family. It should be understood that in addition to the Praetorian cohorts, that is, of all of them, there was a separate detachment, not subject to the praetorian prefect, but directly subordinate to the emperor. These were the personal bodyguards of the emperor, who consisted of close associates, friends, eminent warriors, and also part of the cavalry. With the advent of the new ruler, the composition of this detachment changed. For example, Augustus formed it from the Germans, and under the Julians-Claudius, the Praetorian Guard was formed from the Batavians.

Personal bodyguards of the emperor were his support. We have received information about the size of this special detachment. It consisted of 1000 soldiers, and their leader was called chiliarch, which means "thousand". All the time the bodyguards existed, until 312 AD. E., There was a constant change in their composition. This can speak of their high influence on politics at certain moments in history or about the additional responsibilities of them as warriors.

Other duties: internal troops

It should be said that at that time the Roman Empire had no internal troops. Therefore, the created Praetorian cohorts served as defenders of its territory. And if throughout the Empire, or rather in the provinces, were the Roman legions responsible for the protection, tranquility and stability of specific regions, in Italy, such forces did not exist.

In fact, Italy remained unguarded. And the Praetorian Guard created under Augustus played the role of internal troops. Since ancient times, the raiding squads have been raiding Italian cities and settlements, the duty of combating them has been entrusted to the Praetorian cohorts.

Police functions

The praetorians did not perform the function of fighting robbers for a long time, because soon all their cohorts were transferred to Rome. From this time to the basic duties of the defenders of the emperor, in addition to combating robbers, others are added. The Praetorian Guard, the city cohorts and the vigils observed the internal order in the city, and were also engaged in the fight against fires.

With regard to police functions, it should be noted that Rome already in the II century AD. E. It was a large megalopolis with 1.5 million inhabitants. It was the largest city in the world, which it remained for more than one century. By the way, the population of modern Rome is only 2 two times larger - about 3 million people. Riot, crime, murder, theft were a common thing for Rome.

A huge number of dark alleys contributed to the growth of crime. Every morning they found traces of crimes in the form of corpses of wealthy citizens. The criminal situation greatly disturbed both the emperor and ordinary inhabitants of Rome. Therefore it is not surprising that the Praetorian Guard performed the functions of law enforcement officers.

Fire functions

With the fires the situation was not easier. In modern cities, all developers want to get closer to the center and are reluctant to have their buildings in free outlying areas. At that time in Rome the situation was similar. As a result, the streets were very narrow. For example, at the time of Nero in the center of Rome there were only two wide streets (4-5 and 6.5 m), the rest reaching a width of only 2-3 meters. Most of the streets were tracks and alleys.

More telling about this is the fact that residents of two neighboring houses could greet each other with a handshake through the window. The criminal situation led to the emergence of fires in various parts of the capital: as a result of the close location of houses to each other, the fire spread through the city very quickly.

In the history of Rome there were fires, during which most of the city burned out. Therefore, along with maintaining the internal legal order, the firefighters' activities were extremely important. The Emperor, perfectly aware of this, imputed to the Praetorians the fight against fire.

Interesting Facts

The Praetorian Guards of Rome, the coups in political history of which occupied a rather significant place, played an important role in them, and in some cases, even determining.

Praetorians were involved in almost all similar events. Some emperors were killed by their own bodyguards. For example, Commodus and Caligula. Prefects of Praetorians often became empires at the head of the emperor's displacement. For example, after a successful conspiracy and the assassination of Emperor Caracalla, Macrin himself became ruler. After the rule of Marcus Aurelius, the Praetorian Guard turned into cruel mercenaries.

The institution of Praetorians was destroyed during the reign of Emperor Constantine, known for the transfer of the capital to Byzantium, later called Constantinople, now Istanbul. It was he who in 312 AD E. Abolished the Praetorian Guard, calling it "the constant nest of riots and debauchery."

Let's sum up all the above. Over time, praetorians, originally created to maintain order and protect the imperial people, have turned into monsters. They became a machine for the displacement of "unwanted rulers." At the same time, cohorts served the empire well, removing weak personalities from power and supporting the strong, thus strengthening the entire state. Stability in the capital and, accordingly, the empire was a full merit of the bodyguards of the emperor. Therefore, it is rather difficult to answer unequivocally the question of who such praetorians are - "monsters" or "orderlies".