Hi I am Gibson Hohe and I am doing an article about the Praetorian Guard. I am doing this because I love history. My favorite history to learn is ancient Greece and Rome and Greek/Roman mythology. I thought that one of the things that you never hear about ancient Rome is the Praetorian Guard.
Who were Praetorian Guard?
The guard were the people who protected the Roman Emperor, but they became one of the emperor’s greatest weaknesses. The guard first started in the Roman republic era and were the guards for the Roman commanders. After the Republic era the guard became the personal bodyguard of the emperor.
A powerful enemy of the emperor?
But over the years the guard became one of the biggest threats to the emperor himself. If the emperor did not win the guards favor, the guard would take action. In the first and second century AD many emperors were killed with the help of the guard. At one point one of them became the emperor himself. Macrinus became emperor in 217 AD after emperor Caracalla was killed, most likely by Marcus himself. He was only emperor for only 14 months, but he is famous for being the first emperor to never step foot in Rome during his reign and never serving in the Roman senate.
The end of the Guard
In the year 312 AD Constantine I disbanded the guard after they backed his rival Maxentius. But the leader of the guard stayed because they were important in the regions of the East, Gaul, Illyricum, and Italy. They would continue this role until the Byzantine period.
If you are interested in the Praetorian Guard, then here are a few sources for you to look at:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Praetorian-Guard
https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-praetorian-guard
https://www.worldhistory.org/Macrinus/
