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The Praetorian Guard of Augustus, 1st century AD. Depicted in a marble bas-relief.

The Praetorian Guard (Latin: Praetoriani) was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC. The Guard was dissolved by Emperor Constantine I in the 4th century.

History[link]

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The term Praetorian derived from the tent of the commanding general or praetor of a Roman army in the field—the praetorium. They were an elite recruitment of Roman citizens and Latins. The emperors also often employed a small separate unit of bodyguards, distinct from and, in a degree, as a counterbalance to the Praetorian Guard ^[1]. It was a habit of many Roman generals to choose from the ranks a private force of soldiers to act as guards of the tent or the person. They consisted of both infantry and cavalry. In time, this cohort came to be known as the cohors praetoria, and various notable figures possessed one, including Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Augustus (Octavian). As Caesar discovered with the Legio X Equestris, a powerful unit more dangerous than its fellow legions was desirable in the field. When Augustus became the first ruler of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, he decided such a formation was useful not only on the battlefield but in politics also. Thus, from the ranks of the legions throughout the provinces, Augustus recruited the Praetorian Guard.

Original form of the Guard[link]

The group that was formed initially differed greatly from the later Guard, which came to be a vital force in the power politics of Rome. While Augustus understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime. Thus he allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, originally of 500, then increased to 1,000 men each, and only three were kept on duty at any given time in the capital. A small number of detached cavalry units (turmae, sing. turma) of 30 men each were also organized. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in the towns surrounding Rome; no threats were possible from these individual cohorts. This system was not radically changed with the appointment by Augustus in 2 BC of two Praetorian prefects, Quintus Ostorius Scapula and Publius Salvius Aper, although organization and command were improved.

Through the machinations of their ambitious prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the Guard was brought from the Italian barracks into Rome itself. In 23, Sejanus convinced Tiberius to have the Castra Praetoria (the fort of the Praetorians) built just outside of Rome. One of these cohorts held the daily guard at the imperial palace switching roles in between patrols (most of the guard in the imperial palace had shifted roles from morning till evening). Henceforth the entire Guard was at the disposal of the emperors, but the rulers were now equally at the mercy of the Praetorians. The reality of this was seen in 31 when Tiberius was forced to rely upon his own cohors praetoria against partisans of Sejanus. Although the Praetorian Guard proved faithful to the aging Tiberius, their potential political power had been made clear.

Participation in wars[link]

While campaigning, the Praetorians were the equal of any formation in the Roman Army. On the death of Augustus in 14 A.D. his successor Tiberius was faced with mutinies among both the Rhine and Pannonian legions. According to Tacitus, the Pannonian forces were dealt with by Tiberius' son Drusus, accompanied by two Praetorian cohorts, the Praetorian cavalry and some of the German bodyguard. The German mutiny was put down by Tiberius' stepson Germanicus, his intended heir, who then led the legions and detachments of the Guard in an invasion of Germany over the next two years. The Guard saw much action in 69, fighting well for Otho at the first battle of Bedriacum. Under Domitian and Trajan, the guard took part in wars from Dacia to Mesopotamia, while with Marcus Aurelius, years were spent on the Danubian frontier. Throughout the 3rd century, the Praetorians assisted the emperors in various campaigns.

Political role[link]

Proclaiming Claudius Emperor, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, oil on canvas, c. 1867. According to one version of the story of Claudius' ascension to the role of Emperor, members of the Praetorian Guard found him hiding behind a curtain in the aftermath of the murder of Caligula in 41, and proclaimed him emperor.

Following the death of Sejanus, who was sacrificed for the Donativum (imperial gift) promised by Tiberius, the Guards began to play an increasingly ambitious and bloody game in the Empire. With the right amount of money, or at will, they assassinated emperors, bullied their own prefects, or turned on the people of Rome. In 41 Caligula was killed by conspirators from the senatorial class and from the Guard. The Praetorians placed Claudius on the throne, daring the Senate to oppose their decision.

During 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, after the emperor Galba failed to provide a donative for the Praetorians, they transferred their allegiance to Otho and assassinated the emperor. Otho acquiesced in the Praetorians' demands and granted them the right to appoint their own prefects, ensuring their loyalty. After defeating Otho, Vitellius disbanded the guard and established a new one sixteen cohorts strong. Vespasian relied in the war against Vitellius upon the disgruntled cohorts the emperor had dismissed, and reduced the number of cohorts back to nine upon becoming emperor himself. As a further safeguard, he appointed his son, Titus as Praetorian Prefect.^[2]

While the Guard had the power to kill emperors, it had no role in government administration, unlike the personnel of the palace, the Senate, and the bureaucracy. Often after an outrageous act of violence, revenge by the new ruler was forthcoming. In 193, Didius Julianus purchased the Empire from the Guard for a vast sum, when the Guard auctioned it off after killing Pertinax. Later that year Septimius Severus marched into Rome, disbanded the Praetorians and started a new formation from his own Pannonian Legions. Unruly mobs in Rome fought often with the Praetorians in Maximinus Thrax's reign in vicious street battles.

In 271, Aurelian sailed east to destroy the power of Palmyra, Syria, with a force of legionary detachments, Praetorian cohorts, and other cavalry units. The Palmyrenes were easily defeated. This led to the orthodox view that Diocletian and his colleagues evolved the sacer comitatus (the field escort of the emperors), which included field units that utilized a selection process and command structure modeled after the old Praetorian cohorts, but was not of uniform composition and was much larger than a Praetorian cohort.

Guard's twilight years[link]

In 284, Diocletian reduced the status of the Praetorians; they were no longer to be part of palace life, as Diocletian lived in Nicomedia, some 60 miles (100 km) from Byzantium in Asia Minor. Two new corps, the Jovians and Herculians (named after the gods Jove, or Jupiter, and Hercules, associated with the senior and junior emperor), replaced the Praetorians as the personal protectors of the emperors, a practice that remained intact with the tetrarchy. By the time Diocletian retired on May 1, 305, their Castra Praetoria seems to have housed only a minor garrison of Rome.

The final act of the Praetorians in imperial history started in 306, when Maxentius, son of the retired emperor Maximian, was passed over as a successor: the troops took matters into their own hands and elevated him to the position of emperor in Italy on October 28. Caesar Flavius Valerius Severus, following the orders of Galerius, attempted to disband the Guard but only managed to lead the rest of them in revolting and joining Maxentius. When Constantine the Great, launching an invasion of Italy in 312, forced a final confrontation at the Milvian Bridge, the Praetorian cohorts made up most of Maxentius' army. Later in Rome, the victorious Constantine definitively disbanded the Praetorian Guard. The soldiers were sent out to various corners of the Empire, and the Castra Praetoria was demolished. For over 300 years they had served, and the destruction of their fortress was a grand gesture, inaugurating a new age of imperial history and ending that of the Praetorians.

Legacy[link]

Although its name has become synonymous with intrigue, conspiracy, disloyalty and assassination, it could be argued that for the first two centuries of its existence the Praetorian Guard was generally very much a positive force within the Roman state. During this time it mostly removed (or allowed the removal of) cruel, weak, and unpopular emperors while supporting just, strong, and popular ones. By protecting these monarchs, thereby extending their reigns, and also by keeping the disorders of the Roman mobs and the intrigues of the Senate in line, the Guard helped to give the empire a much needed source of stability that contributed to the period known as the Pax Romana.

It was only after the reign of Marcus Aurelius, when this period is considered to have ended, that the guard began to deteriorate into the meddling force of ruthless mercenaries for which it has become infamous. However, in this regard it was not alone; under the Severan dynasty, and afterwards during the Crisis of the Third Century the legions, the Senate, and the emperorship along with the rest of the Roman state began to fall into decline and inefficiency as well.

Relationships between emperors and their Guard[link]

Organization and conditions of service[link]

Although the Praetorians resembled in some respects a Legion, they were unlike any of the regular Legions of the Roman Empire. Their nine cohorts (one less than a legion) were larger, the pay and benefits were better, and its military abilities were reliable. They also received gifts of money called Donativum from the emperors. As conceived by Augustus, the Praetorian cohorts totaled around 9,000 men, recruited from the legions of the regular army or drawn from the most deserving youths in Etruria, Umbria, and Latium (three provinces in central Italy). Over time the pool of recruits expanded to Macedonia, Hispania Baetica, Hispania Tarraconensis, Lusitania and Illyricum. Vitellius formed a new Guard out of the Germanic legions, while Septimius Severus did the same with the Pannonian legions. He also chose replacements for the units' ranks from throughout the Roman Empire.

Around the time of Augustus (c. 5) each cohort of the Praetorians numbered 1,000 men, increasing to 1,500 men at some time. As with the normal legions, the body of troops actually ready for service was much smaller. Tacitus reports that the number of cohorts was increased to twelve from nine in 47. In 69 it was briefly increased to sixteen cohorts by Vitellius, but Vespasian quickly reduced it again to nine.^[5] Finally in 101 their number was increased once more to ten, resulting in a force of 10,000 troops, whose status was at least elite.

The training of guardsmen was more intense than in the legions because of the amount of free time available, when a cohort was not posted or traveling with the emperor. The Guard followed the same lines as those elsewhere. Equipment and armour were also the same with one notable exception — specially decorated breastplates, excellent for parades and state functions. Insignia of the "Moon and Stars" and the "Scorpion" were particularly associated with the Praetorians. Thus, each guardsman possessed two suits of armor, one for Roman duty and one for the field.

The Praetorians received substantially higher pay^[6] than other Roman soldiers in any of the legions, on a system known as sesquiplex stipendum, or by pay-and-a-half. So if the legionnaires received 250 denarii, the guards received 375 per annum. Domitian and Septimius Severus increased the stipendum (payment) to 1,500 denarii per year, distributed in January, May and September.

On special occasions they received special donativum from the emperor.

Upon retiring, a soldier of the Praetorians was granted 20,000 sesterces (5,000 denarii) which constitute more than 13 annual salaries. Furthermore, a gift of land and a diploma reading "to the warrior who bravely and faithfully completed his service" were granted. Many chose to enter the Evocati, while others reenlisted in the hopes of gaining further promotion and other possible high positions in the Roman state.

Imperial Horseguard[link]

From its beginnings, the guard usually included a small cavalry detachment, the equites singulares Augusti, to escort the emperors to important state functions and on military campaigns. It was composed chiefly of selected, highly trusted provincials, who wore their native dress and carried their own weapons. Trajan expanded this force, opening it up to citizens and made it a permanent part of the Praetorian establishment. Its size was that of an ala milliaria or about 720 horsemen in 24 turmae (squadrons). It was commanded by a tribunus militum and so was, in effect, a 10th Praetorian cohort. Later, Septimius Severus (ruled 197-211) would expand its size to 2,000 men.

Rank and file[link]

See the article Praetorian prefect, which also lists the incumbents of the post of Praefectus praetorio and covers the essentially civilian second life of the office, since ca 300, as administrator of the territorial circumscriptions known as praetorian prefectures).

In popular culture[link]

In Modern English, the phrase "praetorian guard(s)" designates an exclusive, unconditionally loyal group personally attached to powerful people, especially leaders such as Napoleon I's Imperial Guard, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's Battalion M, Adolf Hitler's 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler troops, Romania's former communist leader Ceauşescu's Securitate, and, in current times, Khamenei's IRGC in Iran (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). However, the term is also used in unarmed, even private contexts: for example, a corporate officer or politician may have a small group of associates or followers whom a journalist may describe as a "praetorian guard." Such use is often pejorative, meant to indicate that the followers are fanatics or extremists and/or that the leader is tyrannical or paranoid. Praetorianism is used to mean the advocacy or practice of military dictatorship. John Stockwell, a former member of the CIA, used the title The Praetorian Guard for his book about the negative aspects of US foreign policy.

The Praetorian Guard features in the 2000 film Gladiator and the TV-film Age of Treason (Columbia 1993). The Guard's soldiers appear as infantry units in Civilization IV, Rome: Total War, Travian and in the video game with title being part of it Praetorians.

The Praetorians are a regiment of the Imperial Guard in the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 (although these are themed after 19th century British Empire soldiers; it is more likely the influence for the name comes from Pretoria, an important city in colonial South Africa).

In the film The Net, the 'cyber-terrorists' who use the internet to destroy the protagonist's life, at the bidding of a millionaire computer entrepreneur are called 'Praetorians'.

In the Game "Fallout: New Vegas" One of the factions "Caesars Legion" uses a Praetorian guard that are hand picked. They are invited to the guard when they have served long enough and killed enough of Caesar's enemies to become Centurions. The select few invited must pick out a current member whom they believe is the weakest and challenge them to an unarmed fight to the Death. If the invitee wins they take over the losers position.

See also[link]

Military of ancient Rome portal

• Equites singulares Augusti
• Frumentarii

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bingham, Sandra J. (1999) [1997] (PDF). The praetorian guard in the political and social life of Julio-Claudian Rome. Ottawa: National Library of Canada. ISBN 0-612-27106-4. http://www.zumodrive.com/share/bT2kNTIxNT. Retrieved 2007-05-23. 

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Jo Blankenburg is a German composer based in Los Angeles. He writes music for easy listening purposes, for example the albums Floatovations and The Feather Dance. He also writes music for movies and production music companies. He has worked with Immediate Music and wrote the track "Mythos" from Themes for Orchestra & Choir 3. He is currently working for Position Music and has just recently released his first album called Vendetta for that company^[1]

Filmography[link]

• "The World Beneath" (2005)
• "Ticket" (2005)
• "Poetry" (2006)
• "Stages" (2006)
• "Vahveraasio" (2007)
• "Omega99" (2007)
• "Squalid" (2008)

Discography[link]

• Floatovations (Solo album) (2007)
• The Feather Dance (Solo album) (2008)
• Vendetta (for Position Music) (2010)

Single cues[link]

• "Mythos" from Immediate Music "Themes for Orchestra and Choir 3 (2007)
• Main theme for World of Wearable Art (2009)
• "Below The Surface" for The Human Experience (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jo Blankenburg

• Official website
• Jo Blankenburg at the Internet Movie Database
• Floatovations album
• The Feather Dance album
• Position Music
• Vendetta album

This article about a German composer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Adam Charles Kokesh
Kokesh in 2009
Born	(1982-02-01) February 1, 1982 (age 30) California
Allegiance	USA
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1999–2007
Rank	Corporal
Unit	3rd Civil Affairs Group[1]
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Other work	Talk show host, political activist

Adam Charles Kokesh (born February 1, 1982) is an American activist and talk radio host. Kokesh was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He is an outspoken opponent of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq and has received media attention related to anti-war protest activities. He is the son of Charles Kokesh, a Santa Fe venture capitalist, founder of a firm called Technology Funding and owner of the Santa Fe Horse Park.^[2]

Marine Corps service[link]

Kokesh attended the Native American Preparatory School in San Ysidro, New Mexico.^[3] He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1999.^[4] In 2004, he served in Fallujah.^[5] He was a liaison between the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians as a member of the 3rd Civil Affairs Group.^[1] He also worked a security checkpoint while in Iraq.^[6] He brought home a pistol from Iraq in 2004^[4] in violation of military rules, which prevented his return for a second Iraq tour.^[6] Kokesh "had risen to the rank of sergeant after three-and-a-half years in the Reserves" and "was demoted to corporal and soon thereafter discharged honorably with a re-enlistment code that basically said, 'you can't re-enlist.'"^[6] Having experienced combat in Fallujah, Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal after his honorable discharge from active duty.^[7]

After his discharge, and during a March 19, 2007 protest he attended, Kokesh was in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR);^[6] a superior officer identified him in a photo caption in the Washington Post.^[8] On "March 29, a Marine major sent him an e-mail to tell him he was being investigated for misconduct by appearing at a political event in uniform. Kokesh responded, telling the major what he thought" and used an expletive in his reply, resulting in an additional misconduct charge.^[6] The charges were "brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies only to service members," confusing some veterans and lawyers.^[6]

Hearing[link]

In May 2007, a hearing was convened to consider changing Kokesh's military discharge from "honorable" to "other than honorable" on two points: "Disrespect toward a Superior Commissioned Officer," and violating "Wearing of the uniform" regulation.^[9][10] The panel recommended Kokesh be given a "general discharge under honorable conditions,"^[11] a discharge status below "honorable," and above "other than honorable".^[12] Kokesh appealed the decision, and was denied.^{[13][broken citation]}

Protest activities[link]

After returning from Iraq, Kokesh resumed his studies and completed his bachelor's degree in psychology at Claremont McKenna College. In February 2007, Kokesh became an active participant in the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). On March 19, 2007, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and 12 other Iraq Veterans Against the War members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington D.C.^[14] Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and his photograph appeared in newspapers throughout the country, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales's testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. Kokesh, wearing his Marine Corps Boonie hat, held up a large sign counting the number of times Gonzalez said "I don't remember" or "I don't recall" (Kokesh claimed Gonzalez used such phrases 74 times).^[15]

Kokesh arrest at Senate Hart office building, April 26, 2007

In April 2007 Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested for protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building. Kokesh had performed a ceremony for lost service members using an American flag.^[16][17][18]

In June 2007 Kokesh, along with IVAW members Liam Madden and Nate Lewis, were arrested for crossing onto the property of Ft. Benning near Columbus, Georgia. On June 13, the government filed a motion to dismiss the trespass charges.^{[19][verification needed]} The property is the former location of the School of the Americas.

Kokesh enrolled in graduate studies in political management at George Washington University.^[20] In October 2007, Kokesh, along with six other students, created controversy by putting up satirical political posters across the university campus. The posters featured a picture of a stereotypical Arab man and the headline "Hate Muslims? So do we!!!," with illustrative captions explaining that the typical Muslim is equipped with a venom-spouting mouth, laser-shooting eyes, and hidden AK-47:s, among other parodical features. The poster was signed "Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness," and encouraged students to visit the right-wing website terrorismawareness.org. Kokesh and the six other students publicly admitted to responsibility amidst accusations that the poster was Islamophobic, maintaining that their intent was to spread awareness of what they considered to be the overtly racist intentions of the above-mentioned website's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" organized by a conservative student organization and featuring David Horowitz.^[21]

On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Representative Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he stated, "While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?"

On September 4, 2008, Kokesh interrupted Senator John McCain's acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Holding a sign reading "McCain Votes Against Vets" on one side and "You can't win an occupation" on the other,^[22] Kokesh yelled, "Ask him why he votes against vets!" A member of the audience grabbed the sign and tore it in two. Kokesh was released shortly after being detained by local police.^[23]

On May 28, 2011, Kokesh and other activists participated in a flash mob-silent dance at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. in protest of a recent ruling against dancing at federal monuments; the activists were arrested through the use of physical force by U.S. Park Police officers after actively resisting arrest and ignoring officers' commands.^[24] A much larger protest the following Saturday, June 4, 2011, organized by Kokesh and Code Pink, involved about 200 protesters and 75 dancers. About 10 minutes after the dancing began, police began clearing the monument.^[25] No arrests were made. When asked by a journalist if he had a permit to protest, Kokesh reportedly produced a copy of the Constitution and said, "Actually I got a permit. It's the same one I swore an oath to when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. And it says something about 'freedom of assembly.' Which means you don't need permission from anybody to come together and speak your mind."^[26]

VFW position[link]

The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has defended the right of Kokesh and others who have been given honorable discharges to protest in uniform or in a tank.^[20]

2010 congressional campaign[link]

In 2010, Adam Kokesh attempted to unseat Democratic representative Ben Ray Luján in New Mexico's heavily Democratic 3rd congressional district running as a libertarian-oriented Republican.^[27] Kokesh received mostly out-of-state money,^[27] support from Ron Paul,^[28] and an endorsement from the Republican Liberty Caucus, the organization that represents the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.^[29] Kokesh's opponent in the New Mexico GOP primary was Tom Mullins^[30] to whom he lost.^[31]

"Adam vs The Man"[link]

Since July 2010 Kokesh hosted a talk radio program called "Adam vs. The Man." The program airs weekdays from the studios of 1550 KIVA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[32] In April 2011 his show was picked up by Russia Today television network ("RT").^[33] Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearing on RT, a non-profit organization which largely is funded by the Russian government.^[34][35][36] The conservative group wrote that RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.^[37] The show was canceled in August 2011.^[38]

Kokesh has continued his "Adam vs. The Man" video reports independently on YouTube, noting he was "fired from my only radio and TV gigs."^[39] On the channel he has filed some critical reports of the "Occupy DC" version of the Occupy Wall Street movement.^[40][41]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal
	Dance portal

• List of U.S. Marines
• Campaign for Liberty

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adam Kokesh's talk radio show: ADAM VS THE MAN
• Adam Kokesh's blog
• Adam Kokesh's profile at IVAW.org
• Adam Kokesh's Debut on RT