What were Roman bodyguards called?

What were Roman bodyguards called?

The Praetorian Guard (Latin: Cohortēs praetōriae) was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors.

What is meant by Praetorian Guard?

: a member of the bodyguard of the emperor of ancient Rome instituted by Augustus and consisting at first of 9 and later of 10 cohorts and coming to have great power in the making and unmaking of emperors until suppressed by Constantine in a.d. 312.

What name was given to the soldiers who protected Roman emperors?

The Praetorian Guard was a fixture of the imperial era, but their origins date back to groups of elite soldiers that protected generals during the Roman Republic.

What was a Roman guard?

The Praetorian Guard (cohortes praetoriae) was, in the Roman Republic, a commander’s personal bodyguard and then, in the imperial period, an elite force assigned to protect the emperor and Rome. The body specifically created to protect the emperor’s person had become his greatest liability.

What was the Roman cavalry called?

The Romans always relied on their allies to provide cavalry. These were known as the Foederati. A typical Consular army of the 2nd Punic War would have much more auxiliary cavalry.

What is a SPQR flag?

It means “The Roman Senate and People” or “The Senate and People of Rome”. SPQR appears on Roman coins, at the end of documents made public by inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and on the flag (vexilloid) of the Roman legions.

What does Praetor mean in history?

praetor, plural Praetors, or Praetores, in ancient Rome, a judicial officer who had broad authority in cases of equity, was responsible for the production of the public games, and, in the absence of consuls, exercised extensive authority in the government.

Where was the Praetorian Guard located in Rome?

After ascending to the throne, Augustus established his own imperial guards comprised of nine cohorts of 500 to 1,000 men each. The unit would endure as a symbol of imperial might for over 300 years. By A.D. 23, it even operated out of its own fortress, the Castra Praetoria, located on the outskirts of Rome.

Who was the heir to the title of Caesar?

Galba helped solidify “Caesar” as the title of the designated heir by giving it to his own adopted heir, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus. Galba’s reign did not last long and he was soon deposed by Marcus Otho.

Who was the Roman Emperor who dissolved the Praetorian Guard?

The Praetorian Guard was ultimately dissolved by Emperor Constantine I in the 4th century. They were distinct from the Imperial German Bodyguard which provided close personal protection for the early Western Roman emperors.

Who was known as Caesar in the Middle East?

In the Middle East, the Persians and the Arabs continued to refer to the Roman and Byzantine emperors as “Caesar” (in Persian: قیصر روم‎ Qaysar-i Rūm, “Caesar of Rûm”, from Middle Persian kēsar).