The Rise of the Praetorian Guard

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2021

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From Gladiator to Rome Total War to I, Claudius, today the Cohortēs praetōriae are one of the most distinctive military units of Imperial Rome. It was their job to protect the Roman Emperor and his household, a task for which they hold a somewhat ‘chequered’ record (especially when we focus in on the Praetorian Prefects). But what do we know about this unit’s origins? How did this powerful force become protectors of the Emperor and his household? What other functions did they serve? And how did they differ from the standard Roman legions in their structure?

To talk through the rise of the Praetorian Guard, with a specific focus on the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, Tristan caught up with historian Lindsay Powell at Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex. Lindsay is the author of several books about the Early Roman Imperial Period. His latest book, Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome, is out now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's the ancients on History Hit.
0:05.8	I'm Tristan Hughes, your host.
0:08.3	And in today's podcast where we are talking about the rise of one of the most iconic
0:13.2	military units from Imperial Rome, the Praetorian Guard.
0:20.3	We're going to be focusing in on the first century AD, particularly the reigns of the Emperor
0:25.9	Augustus and the Emperor Tiberius.
0:29.4	We're going to be looking at the creation of the Guard, the structure of the Guard, the
0:33.6	roles, the duties of the unit.
0:35.9	We're going to be looking at figures such as Sir Janus, building such as the Castropotoria
0:41.0	and so much more.
0:43.4	Now joining me to talk through all of this, I was delighted to meet in person a few weeks
0:47.7	back, Lindsay Powell at Fishborne Roman Palace in West Sussex in southern England.
0:54.6	Lindsay, he's a bit of an expert on the early Imperial Roman period.
0:58.6	He's written biographies on several prominent figures from this moment in ancient history.
1:04.3	It was a delight to catch up with him in person.
1:06.8	And without further ado, he is Lindsay.
1:10.1	Lindsay, it's great to have you back on the podcast and great to see you in person.
1:14.9	Thank you so much indeed and it is really a joy to meet you because we've done two,
1:18.4	maybe three before when it was through the Zoom, which is never quite the same.
1:22.0	Mind you, those podcast absolutely rocked on the gripper and Augustus.
1:26.4	We're keeping on the latter today Augustus, but Augustus and the Praetorian Guard.
1:31.9	I mean, the Praetorian Guard, it must be one of the most iconic aspects of the Roman Imperial period.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -1234 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.