Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PRAETORIANS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 246 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

PRAETORIANS . In the See also:

early See also:Roman See also:republic, See also:praetor (q.v.) meant See also:commander of the See also:army: in the later republic praetor and See also:pro praetor were the usual titles for provincial See also:governors with military See also:powers. Accordingly, the See also:general's quarters in a See also:camp came to be called praetorium,' and one of the See also:gates Aorta praetoria, and the general's bodyguard cohors praetoria, or, if large enough to include several cohorts, cohortes praetoriae. Under the See also:empire the nomenclature continued with some changes. In particular cohortes praetoriae now designated the imperial bodyguard. This, as founded by See also:Augustus, consisted of nine cohorts, each r000 strong, some See also:part of which was always with the See also:emperor, whether in See also:Rome or elsewhere. In A.D. 23 his successor Tiberius concentrated this force on the eastern edge of Rome in fortified See also:barracks: hence one See also:cohort in turn, clad in civilian garb, was sent to the emperor's See also:house on the See also:Palatine, and large detachments could be despatched to See also:foreign See also:wars. The men were recruited voluntarily, in See also:Italy or in Italianized districts, and enjoyed better pay and shorter service than the See also:regular army: they were under praefecti praetorio (usually two; later, sometimes three, rarely only one), who during most of the empire might not be senators. This force was the only See also:body of troops in Rome (See also:save a few cohortes urbanae, a See also:fire See also:brigade, and some non-Roman See also:personal See also:guards of the emperor), or, indeed, anywhere near the See also:capital. Accordingly it could make or unmake emperors in crises—at the See also:accession cf See also:Claudius in A.D. 41, in 68-69, and again See also:late in the second See also:century.

But its normal See also:

influence was less than is often asserted. Moreover, its prefects, since they were two and liable to be disunited, and since they could not be senators, neither combined with the s In permanent forts and fortresses, praetorium probably denoted strictly a See also:residence: the See also:official headquarters See also:building (though commonly styled praetorium by moderns) was the principle. On the other See also:hand praetorium could denote any See also:lord's residence, even on a civilian's See also:estate. senators to restore an See also:oligarchy nor themselves aspired as pretenders to the See also:throne. These prefects were at first. soldiers, but later mostly lawyers who relieved the emperors of various See also:civil and criminal See also:jurisdiction. In the second century the praetorian cohorts became ten in number, and at the end of it Septimius See also:Severus reorganized them so that they consisted practically of See also:barbarian soldiers and held See also:constant conflict with the See also:people of Rome. At the end of the third century the praefecti praetorio were reconstituted as four See also:officers, each ruling one See also:quarter of the now divided empire. In 312 the Praetorian Guard was suppressed by See also:Constantine. Their barracks at Rome covering a rectangle of 39 acres (1210 by 1410 ft.), were included by See also:Aurelian in the walls of Rome, and three sides of the See also:enceinte can still be seen near the Porta Pia, with See also:brickwork as old as Tiberius: the interior (now barracks for the See also:Italian army) is archaeologically less interesting.

End of Article: PRAETORIANS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PRAETOR (Lat. prae-itor, " he who goes before," "a ... 		[next]
PRAETORIUS, MICHAEL (1571_1621)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries