Praetorian Guard
 Roman Kingdom | |||
| Ordinary magistracy | |||
| |||
| Special magistrates | |||
| |||
| Titles and honors | |||
Roman Emperor
| |||
| Institutions and laws | |||
Roman Constitution
| |||
In the ancient Rome , the Praetorian Guard was a unit of the Roman army made up of elite soldiers originally recruited in Italy. These units originate from the small group of men surrounded themselves with the judges Republicans known as the lenders and the name of the camp where the Roman legions had erected the tent of the commander of the legion, the courtroom ( Latin : praetorium) when they left the field. This is one of the most famous military units in Roman history.
Summary |
During the Roman Republic there is no permanent custody charged with the protection of general officers. But some officers chose to surround himself with a guard of soldiers to ensure their safety, giving rise to the first "praetorian guard". In case of battle, they act as a final reserve. The consuls were usually protected by lictors , who also settled near their tents for the army.
At the siege of Numancia , Scipio Aemilianus had thus formed a troop of five hundred men for his personal protection, release of the besieged are sometimes very dangerous. This practice then spread to the Roman generals occupying this position for periods of longer and longer. The guard was then called cohors Praetoria.
Under the Empire
The Praetorians are the bodyguards of the Emperor and a part of the garrison of Rome. They are directed at different times, for one, two, or four praetorian prefect and obviously by the emperor himself. Up to Vespasian , the praetorian prefect is always a knight , and this function is the highest of the equestrian order.
They derive several benefits from their proximity to the emperor, the Praetorians are the only weapons to be admitted into the sacred precincts of Rome - the pomrium - and their service time required is shorter (12 years instead of 16) and their pay is higher than that of a legionary. Under Nero , the balance of a praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary, plus bonuses donativum , granted by the new emperors. It was a bonus equivalent to several years' pay, which was renewed during important events of the empire, or concerning the imperial family birthdays, births, weddings. Large distributions of money and food renewed and rewarded the loyalty of the Praetorians after failure of each plot particularly severe (such as that of Messalina cons Claude in 48 or Piso against Nero in 65). Feared and dreaded of the population and the Senate , the Praetorian Guard in Rome did not enjoy any sympathy. A famous line from Juvenal mentions the nail that would have left him in the foot the sandal of a praetorian hurry ... The name "praetorian" remains a pejorative meaning in French, a legacy of role often Praetorium ancient disorder.
Prefect of the Praetorian Guard
The praetorian prefect is the head of the Praetorian Guard. Its key position (chief of all troops stationed in Rome) made it a key figure in the Roman state.
There are usually two prefects, one sometimes (as in Tiberius ). Collegiality can reduce the powers of the praetorian prefects, who would otherwise have been real viceroys.
After the dissolution of the Praetorian Guard by Constantine the Great (after the defeat of the Praetorian Guard at Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 ) is the Prefecture of the courtroom more than a business function in the Empire, the holder manages large areas ( appointed praetorian prefecture) grouping of dioceses on behalf of the Emperor.
Organization
Infantry Cohorts
Gradually, with the crisis of the late Republic and early Empire, the detachment became permanent informal and staffing were increased to make up the Praetorian Guard as we know it. Augustus created nine cohorts (4500 men is the equivalent of a legion) to maintain peace in Italy, three were stationed in Rome , the others nearby. Augustus conceived as units of infantry of 500 men each (quingnaire cohort).
From 2 AD to 27 , there were two praetorian prefects , and one under Tiberius , the guard quarters with fully installed within the City. The cohort of service to the palace takes its word of the emperor and not the prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Their camp was located on Mount Quirinal since Tiberius , outside Rome. It is to Sejanus , the praetorian prefect and favorite of Emperor Tiberius, is due the meeting of urban cohorts and nine praetorian hitherto scattered in Italy in one big camp beyond the Servian wall on the plateau of the Esquiline, the Castra Praetoria the gates of Rome from 26. Sejanus was that housing in the City, which had previously been theirs, the softened and he should not be totally wrong because in the various wars between pretenders to the empire, they are fairly regularly beaten by the legions of borders, certainly more seasoned, they are almost always left to the emperor moved to Rome against the pretender arriving from the provinces. Up to Tiberius, to enter the Praetorian Guard, one must be born in Lazio , in Umbria or Etruria , strictly in some old colony.
Under Caligula , between 37 and 41, the Praetorian cohorts increased from 9 to 12. By fear and demagoguery to the praetorian cohorts, Vitellius recruits and cohorts pass number 16, 16 000 men and they become Mile. Vespasian , always wise and prudent, brings the number of each unit to five hundred men and retains only nine cohorts. Domitien creates a tenth and these figures do not change.
In the early second century , there are still 89% of Italians. Under Septimius Severus recruitment evolves to allow the inclusion of legionaries of the Roman armies, like those of the army of the Danube, very experienced. Septimius Severus puts his supporters came with him to Rome, the Praetorians who remained faithful to its competitors.
Cavalry
Since its inception, the guard comprises, as a legion, a detachment of cavalry, the equites singulares Augusti, in charge of escorting the emperor during his travels or during military campaigns. These riders are mainly provincial chosen to be particularly reliable, wearing the costume of their original people and equipped with their own weapons. Trajan increases its workforce, recruitment open to Roman citizens and made a permanent unit of the Praetorian Guard. Its strength varies around that of an ala quingenaria, or 512 riders divided into 16 turmes. They are commanded by a tribune. Severe double its workforce to give the same level as other cohorts.
She is confined to the Lateran Disappearance During the Battle of Milvian Bridge (28 October 312), the Praetorian Guard, part of the army of Maxentius , was virtually wiped out: it is drowning with Maxentius and many others fell into the Tiber. Rather than reconstruct it with its own soldiers, Constantine I prefer to dissolve the Praetorian Guard after his accession to power, ending what was considered a major source of instability of the regime; reputation may be inflated because outside crises 68-69 and 192, it remained mostly faithful to the emperor in place against the usurpers self-proclaimed. He also came to rid Rome of Emperors unbearable as Heliogabalus , or simply do not defend them at the decisive moment. The praetorian guard stood generally around the general or emperor. Their role was simple: Protect their (their) superior (s) supervisor (s) to death because it was the elite unit par excellence of the Roman Empire which was able to break into the ranks enemies or take a side for example. The Praetorian Guard was also the preferred unit of emprereur Trajan. Cohorts intervened repeatedly in the struggles for the imperial succession. At 41, led to castra Praetoria from Palatine, Claude is the first emperor proclaimed by the Praetorian Guard, and the first to promise them in exchange a donativum (in this Jan. 41 ). On the death of Nero , in 68-69, they support Galba , an austere and traditional character, because their warden promised them a large sum of money. But when Galba refused to pay them the amount owed because, he says, "he used to recruit soldiers, not buy them, the Praetorians abandon. they proclaimed Emperor Otho , on the forum and slaughtered in the same place the old emperor Galba and his designated successor, the young Piso (January 15, 69). After the defeat and suicide of Otho, they follow the winner, another Neronian, Vitellius, yet they fought before. When the assassination of Domitian in 96, they demanded of the new emperor Nerva punishment of perpetrators; before their threat to use violence, he had to give despite himself, and tyrannicides were put to death. In the year 193, after the assassination of Commodus and Pertinax , the Praetorians literally began auctioning the Empire: it was the largest payer, Senator Didius Julianus , who won the prize and was proclaimed emperor, for a brief reign elsewhere. Private own troops, the Senate had each time no alternative but to bow to the choice of the Praetorians, like the legions. The new emperor was always cheered by the Praetorian Guard before being ratified by the Senate and the legions of the provinces. Those who refused or neglected to pay the donativum consisting was likely to pay with his life, as Galba and Pertinax. The founder of the dynasty Antonine , Nerva , did not calm the reluctance of the Praetorians at the cost of donativum particularly important. Military Role
Political role
See also
Internal Links
External Links
Notes
Loading ...