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PRAETORIAN GUARD

Established by Octavian in 27 b.c., an elite bodyguard (cohors praetoria) with superior pay, shorter terms of service, and more elaborate uniforms. Although its numbers fluctuated until it was disbanded in a.d. 312, during the 1st century it had nine cohorts of 500 men.

Six cohorts were stationed in other Italian towns (cf. Phil. 1:13), and three cohorts were reserved for constant attendance on the emperor. These guards typically appeared in civilian dress due to the traditional senatorial aversion to having troops stationed within the city limits. In a.d. 23, Tiberius concentrated the Praetorians in one camp inside the city.

The Guard was commanded by the emperor himself with one or two Praetorian prefects of equestrian rank as subordinate officers. Its members were primarily recruited from Italian towns.

Although established to protect the emperor, the Guard would eventually become an actual threat to his safety. As early as a.d. 31, the Praetorian prefect Sejanus was charged before the senate with treason and executed. In 41 Caligula was murdered by a Praetorian tribune; in the confusion that followed, Claudius, found hiding in the palace, was brought to the camp and hailed as emperor. A similar occurrence led to Nero’s accession, and during the Civil War of 67-69 the Praetorians raised their own candidate, Otho, as emperor. This trend reached its pinnacle in 193, when two rivals stood near the Praetorian camp and traded bids for the emperorship (cf. Dio Cassius Hist. 74.2.3-6).

Bibliography. M. Grant, The Army of the Caesars (1974, repr. New York, 1992).

Andrea Lorenzo Molinari

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PRAETORIAN GUARD

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)