A riveting account of ancient Rome's imperial bodyguard, the select band of soldiers who wielded the power to make-or destroy-the emperors they served
Founded by Augustus around 27 B.C., the elite Praetorian Guard was tasked with the protection of the emperor and his family. As the centuries unfolded, however, Praetorian soldiers served not only as protectors and enforcers but also as powerful political players. Fiercely loyal to some emperors, they vied with others and ruthlessly toppled those who displeased them, including Caligula, Nero, Pertinax, and many more. Guy de la Bedoyere provides a compelling first full narrative history of the Praetorians, whose dangerous ambitions ceased only when Constantine permanently disbanded them.
de la Bedoyere introduces Praetorians of all echelons, from prefects and messengers to artillery experts and executioners. He explores the delicate position of emperors for whom prestige and guile were the only defenses against bodyguards hungry for power. Folding fascinating details into a broad assessment of the Praetorian era, the author sheds new light on the wielding of power in the greatest of the ancient world's empires.
A riveting account of ancient Rome's imperial bodyguard, the select band of soldiers who wielded the power to make-or destroy-the emperors they served
Founded by Augustus around 27 B.C., the elite Praetorian Guard was tasked with the protection of the emperor and his family. As the centuries unfolded, however, Praetorian soldiers served not only as protectors and enforcers but also as powerful political players. Fiercely loyal to some emperors, they vied with others and ruthlessly toppled those who displeased them, including Caligula, Nero, Pertinax, and many more. Guy de la Bedoyere provides a compelling first full narrative history of the Praetorians, whose dangerous ambitions ceased only when Constantine permanently disbanded them.
de la Bedoyere introduces Praetorians of all echelons, from prefects and messengers to artillery experts and executioners. He explores the delicate position of emperors for whom prestige and guile were the only defenses against bodyguards hungry for power. Folding fascinating details into a broad assessment of the Praetorian era, the author sheds new light on the wielding of power in the greatest of the ancient world's empires.
Guy de la Bédoyère is author of a widely admired series of books on Romano-British history. He has appeared regularly on the UK’s Channel 4 archaeology series Time Team and is well known in the United States for his volume The Romans for Dummies. He lives in Grantham, UK.
“Any future researcher into the subject will certainly begin
here.”—Peter Jones, Times (London)
"This book is a lively and up-to-date history of the Praetorian
Guard, the anti-coup divisions of the Roman emperors from Augustus
to Constantine. De la Bédoyère tells their story with clarity and
panache, and his book can be most warmly recommended both to
aspiring tyrants and the ordinary armchair historian."—Peter
Thonemann, Sunday Times
"This is a fast paced and engaging history of the Praetorian
Guard."—Harry Sidebottom, Sunday Telegraph
"Aptly illustrated and impeccably referenced, with a helpful
glossary and appendices. . . . It is an altogether impressive piece
of compressed scholarship, a thorough study of its subject as well
as an engaging history of imperial Rome."—Allan Mallinson,
Spectator
"[Praetorian] shows that even popular histories can illustrate the
complexity of imperial power. . . . Conveying complexity, without
subjecting the reader to the dozens of triple-barreled Roman names
that make up the finer grain of imperial politics, has long been de
la Bedoyere’s metier, as has been the easy charm with which good
popular history distinguishes itself."—Michael Kulikowski, London
Review of Books
"A potted history of the Roman Empire, told through the triumphs
and travails of the praetorians. . . . Praetorian is filled
with engaging detail and grapples with the lacunae in the
historical record with admirable assiduity. It will be a useful
resource for any student of the tribulations of the Roman
Empire."—Frank Brinkley, Literary Review
"De la Bedoyere’s book on the Praetorian’s will likely become the
definitive account of the rise and fall of the emperor’s
bodyguards."—History of War
"The dramatic story of the soldiers at the heart of the Roman
empire. Lively and full of insight, de la Bedoyere traces the
history of the praetorians and the emperors they served, murdered
and made, through three hundred years of intrigue and
drama."—Adrian Goldsworthy
"A definitive and highly readable account of a key institution of
the Roman Empire."—Tom Holland, author of Rubicon: The Last Years
of the Roman Republic
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