No, Not the Star Wars Kind: 11 Fast Facts About the Praetorian Guard

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Whenever a movie or book has an army, there’s almost always some kind of elite group that serve as the guardians of the leader, whether good or bad. And they’re usually called the Praetorian Guard.

1. The real Praetorian Guard (cohortes praetorianae) was an elite unit of the Imperial Roman army. They were part bodyguard, part secret police, part soldier. Originally, the Praetorians were elite guards for military praetors on the battlefield.
2. Once he had himself declared emperor, Augustus knew he needed protection in the city as well as the battlefield. He kept his elite guard to protect himself and his families. He formed nine cohorts, originally consisting of 500 men each. He later increased them to 1,000 men each. However, he didn’t want to look like a military dictator, so Praetorians neither wore uniforms nor carried shields, and were generally armed only with short swords. They wore civilian clothes, patrolling inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings. Praetorians alone were allowed to bear arms in the city.
3. Whenever the emperor left Rome, Praetorians accompanied him. If and when he went to war, they fought for him on the field. In times of peace, they provided crowd control at festivals and games, and riot control when necessary, which in densely populated Rome could be often and dangerous. Nero stocked the amphitheater with Guards to “encourage” the citizens to show appropriate enthusiasm for the young ruler’s dreadful performances.
4. 

   Due to their proximity to the emperor, the Praetorian Prefects were the second most powerful man in the Empire.

   In Rome, their principal duty was to mount the Guard outside the emperor’s palace. (The interior of the palace was safeguarded by the Imperial German Bodyguard, as they were considered less likely to betray the emperor since they were outsiders.) Every afternoon, the serving tribune of the cohort would appear at the palace to receive the password from the emperor personally.

5. Becoming a Guard was not an easy task.  One had to be in good physical condition, and from a respectable family. He also needed letters of recommendations from important leading figures in society.
6. Once a Guard, though, the rewards were well worth it. Their mandatory service period was 16 years instead of the 25 years the legions served and their retirement package was also much better than that of the legions. Under Nero, the pay of a Praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary. Their pay was often augmented by prime additions of donativum—extra money each new emperor gifted to the Guards, equivalent to several years of pay. At important events of the empire, or events that touched the imperial family, such as birthdays, births and marriages, the donative was often repeated.
7. Although the Praetorians are often shown wearing black, purple or blue uniforms, there is absolutely no evidence to support this. Movies do this to differentiate them from the legionaries.
8. 

   A Praetorian guardsman. Photo redrampart.com

   The Guard as a whole was headed by a prefect, and each individual cohort was under the command of a tribune. There were almost always two prefects to avoid concentrating so much power in the hands of one man. One of the few times there was only one prefect was from 54 to 62, when Sextus Burrus led the Guard, which is the time Paul was taken to Rome as prisoner and delivered to the “Captain of the Guard.”

9. Lucius Aelius Sejanus recommended to Emperor Tiberius that all the Praetorian cohorts be housed together instead of spread throughout the city, so better communication could lead to faster deployments in an emergency. Tiberius built a new camp in 23, at that time just outside the city walls. In gratitude, the scorpion became a common symbol on Praetorian shields, armor, etc. (Tiberius’ birth sign was Scorpio).
10. Praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, along with the philosopher Seneca, mentored the seventeen-year-old new emperor Nero. Under their influence, the first five years of his reign are said to be among the most peaceful and prosperous of the Empire. A few years later, Nero poisoned Burrus, and later forced Seneca to commit suicide. The Guard eventually revolted, and Nero committed suicide before he was murdered.
11. As time went on, the Guard became more corrupt and self-serving. At least some of them played a part in the murders of Commodus in 192, Caracalla in 217, Elagabalus in 222, and Pupienus and Balbinus in 238, and at least three more. Occasionally, they were at least partially responsible for both installing and then murdering an emperor. They helped Galba become emperor in A.D. 68, only to kill him the following year after he neglected to properly reward them.