Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

Dyk ned i over 1 million e- og lydbøger samt podcasts.

  • Over 1 million titler
  • Eksklusive titler + Mofibo Originals
  • Download og nyd titler offline
  • Opsig når som helst
Prøv nu
DK - Details page - Device banner - 894x1036
Cover for The Praetorian Guard: The History of the Roman Emperors’ Imperial Bodyguards

The Praetorian Guard: The History of the Roman Emperors’ Imperial Bodyguards

Varighed
1T 30M
Sprog
Engelsk
Format
Kategori

Historie

A member of Caesar’s extended family, Gaius Marius, was the military visionary who had restructured the legions and extended the privileges of land ownership and citizenship to legionaries on condition of successful completion of a fixed term of service. Marius made the army more professional and helped propel Rome’s expansion, but those same reforms eventually made the legions fiercely loyal to their individual generals rather than the state, which would make Caesar’s seizure of power possible and bring about the dawn of the Roman Empire.

Naturally, having military units who were only loyal to individuals also made an imperial bodyguard possible, and few institutions in the long and turbulent history of the Roman Empire characterized the internal dynamics – and potential problems – of the empire’s structure like the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard was instituted by Augustus as a personal bodyguard for Rome’s most powerful leaders, but it eventually evolved into a kingmaking force that could elevate emperors, manipulate politics, and ultimately weaken the very system it served protect. In that sense, the Praetorian Guard reflected Rome’s transition from a republic that prided itself on civic virtue and suspicion of tyranny into an autocratic empire where the concentration of power in a single individual required both protection and coercion on a scale that didn’t exist before.

This factor would prove decisive during several moments of crisis, when the question of imperial succession often hinged less on legal legitimacy than on the physical security guaranteed by the Guard. The assassination of emperors, once a shocking aberration, gradually became a common means of political change, and the Praetorian Guard frequently stood at the center of such events, either as conspirators or as the ones who determined the outcome in their aftermath.

© 2026 Charles River Editors (Lydbog): 9780466827113

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 7. maj 2026

Andre kan også lide...

Vælg dit abonnement

  • Over 1 million titler

  • Download og nyd titler offline

  • Eksklusive titler + Mofibo Originals

  • Børnevenligt miljø (Kids Mode)

  • Det er nemt at opsige når som helst

Den mest populære

Premium

For dig som lytter og læser ofte.

129 kr. /måned

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Prøv gratis

Unlimited

For dig som lytter og læser ubegrænset.

159 kr. /måned

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Prøv gratis

Family

For dig som ønsker at dele historier med familien.

Fra 179 kr. /måned

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Kun 39 kr. pr. ekstra konto

  • Ingen binding

Dig + 1 familiemedlem2 konti

179 kr. /måned

Prøv gratis

Flex

For dig som vil prøve Mofibo.

89 kr. /måned

  • Gem op til 100 ubrugte timer

  • Eksklusivt indhold hver uge

  • Fri lytning til podcasts

  • Ingen binding

Prøv gratis