Praetorian Guard

Examples of Praetorian Guard in the following topics:

• The Julio-Claudian Emperors

  • He granted bonuses to the military, including the Praetorian Guard, city troops, and the army outside of Italy.
  • In 41 CE, Caligula was assassinated as part of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers.
  • As a result, Claudius was declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula’s assassination due to his position as the last man in the Julio-Claudian line.
  • Nonetheless, his appointment as emperor by the Praetorian Guard caused damage to his reputation, and this was amplified when Claudius became the first emperor to resort to bribery as a means to secure army loyalty.
  • Claudius also rewarded the Praetorian Guard that had named him emperor with 15,000 sesterces.

• The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors

  • Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a Roman statesman, organized the conspiracy against Nero with the help of Subrius Flavus, a tribune, and Sulpicius Asper, a centurion of the Praetorian Guard in order to restore the Republic and wrest power from the emperor.
  • Galba executed many senators and equites without trial in a paranoid attempt to consolidate his power, which unsettled many, including the Praetorian Guard.
  • Otho bribed the Praetorian Guard to support him and embarked upon a coup d’etat, during which Galba was killed by the Praetorians.

• The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • Titus, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus had no need of praetorian cohorts, or of countless legions to guard them, but were defended by their own good lives, the good-will of their subjects, and the attachment of the senate.
  • In 96 CE, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy involving members of the Praetorian Guard and several of his freedmen.
  • A revolt by the Praetorian Guard in October 97 essentially forced him to adopt an heir.

• Sculpture during the Decline of the Roman Empire

  • He was quickly succeeded by a member of his personal guard, Macrinus, who ruled for less than a year before his own death.
  • The Crisis of the Third Century continued after the reign of the Soldier Emperors as the title of emperor was auctioned off to the highest bidder by the Praetorian Guard and various men, not always generals, from around the empire seized power for brief periods of time.

• Early Roman Society

  • Certain political and quasi-political positions were filled by members of the equestrian order, including tax farming and leadership of the Praetorian Guard.

• Military Achievements of the Flavians

  • Their commander Cornelius Fuscus was killed, and the battle standard of the Praetorian Guard lost.

• Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

  • The Tetrarch was himself often in the field, while delegating most of the administration to the hierarchic bureaucracy headed by his respective Praetorian Prefect.
  • The Praetorian Prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire, originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides.

• Fall of the Flavian Emperors

  • The precise involvement of the Praetorian Guard is less clear.
  • At the time the Guard was commanded by Titus Flavius Norbanus and Titus Petronius Secundus and the latter was almost certainly aware of the plot.

• The Flavian Dynasty

  • Terms of peace, including a voluntary abdication, were agreed upon with Titus Flavius Sabinus II, but the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard—the imperial bodyguard—considered such a resignation disgraceful, and prevented Vitellius from carrying out the treaty.

• The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium

  • In 330, he founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium, which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West; it was a superb base from which to guard the Danube river, and was reasonably close to the Eastern frontiers.
  • To divide administrative responsibilities, Constantine replaced the single praetorian prefect, who had traditionally exercised both military and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority alone.