Why were Roman Praetorians such degenerates?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- Praetorians were like that one toxic girlfriend we all used to date
Music
Music from Imperator: Rome (2019) developed by Paradox Interactive.
Imperator: Rome (Complete Soundtrack) by Jonatan Järpehag.
Music by Adrian von Ziegler
• Roman Music - Convivium
Music by Adrian von Ziegler, Relaxing Roman Music - Aetas Romana
#AncientRome
Virgin Pretorians vs Chad Varangians
vs Thad Scholae Palatinae
@@marcofilippini4235 They're very underrated
@@marcofilippini4235 No one remembers the goddamn Palatinae, it's a crime.
Praetorians were racially italic and had the italic face structure
Varangian were racially germanic and had the S S face structure
@@overlord5068 lmao SS 🤣 u wild cuzzzz
Emperors paid Praetorians for their protection in the same way that people pay the Mafia for their 'protection'
Shouldn’t the senate pay the Praetorian guards, the same way the Secret Service is paid by the US federal government?
Oh wait, the Emperor is the Senate…..
Or the same way the US pay Afghan warlords.
@@j.h-j5j The better analogy for that was how the empire would pay barbarian tribes to leave them alone
You dont understand Rome itself was the mafia like all other states Pretorians were just unruly mobs working for them
Preatorians were the first italian mafia.
Honestly I never thought of it that way but I like they way you think 😂
Huh, you ain't wrong, seems like it something on the peninsula lmao
"Ayy that's a nice empire you got there. Would be a shame if you got stabbed."
Research the early history of Rome! Rome was the first italian mafia. Or research the history of Italy, those ancient greeks had the style too. "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!"
not the first
I thought Aurelian was done in by his officer core, when his secretary drew up a fake death list and spooked the emperors' inner circle into murdering him
Lets just not talk abt it....it makes me sad 😪
That officer core was made of Praetorians. It is unfortunately not easy to draw the line if it was a widespread Praetorian conspiracy or just a small clique of high ranking officers.
:'(
Corps
That's how it happened. Eros, his secretary, committed some unknown infraction for which he feared the emperor's wrath. In an attempt to save himself, he wrote a fake list of people the emperor allegedly wanted to kill, showed the list to the men on it, and said men murdered the emperor. When they realized that it was all a trick, they had Eros tried to a tree in the woods and left to die.
Being a member of the Praetorien guard is pretty neat though. Only occupation in history where killing your boss is part of the job. XD
Jamie lannister wants to know your location
@@semregob3363 Jaime Lannister would fit in with the Praetorians rather well.
Well they only killed 13 emperors
A Kingsguard, but every member is Jaime
Same thing occurred in the Bengal Sultanate where habshi (Ethiopians) guards would regularly depose and replace the sultan. Their uprooting was a bloody one.
Constantine the giga based put an end to that shit. Thats why we ended up with based Thad Varangians eventually.
When the Varangian Guard is so based that is the only real exception at the no mercenaries rule.
Constantine truely deserves his title. What a chad.
And now varangians identify as women lgbt and submit to islam😂😂😂😂
The praetorian guard make me think of the janissaries. They also killed their Sultan, choose who was sultan or not. But contrary with the praetorian, with the janissaries it ended badly for them. They were entirely killed by the sultan because they were useless, untrustworthy and expensive
Though at least to the Janissaries Credit they were Elite at one point.
Later ones are just Ultra conservative Politicians.
Funny how it backfire for the ottomans, they where really the elite soldiers of the empire (at one point at least) all of them coming from the Balkans taken from their families converted to Islam and send to training since childhood and all of that ended up in them fucking up the sultans over lmao, it remind me of the Seljuks and the Arab caliphate also
@@grimmer54 history repeats i guess
by the nazem cadet corps no less.
@@grimmer54 When the Janissary knew they had control they pretended to be the underhand to keep legitimacy they could replace them with a favorable prince but they never replaced the dynasty. I think the reason is the empire is literally named after the dynasty.
But their uniforms look so cool and purple, surely they can't be that bad?
You know Mary Schrader from Breaking Bad
@@TominusMaximus Haha, yes!
Black SS uniforms...
It's usually the other guys who get the sexy uniforms and cool gear. Napoleon's Grande Armee, the Confederates, the National Socialists...
@@septimiusseverus343 placing Grand Armee in line with Nazis and Confederates, dude... The evilness level is incomparable, i would say they were good guys compared to other ones at the time, despite being aggressive military expansionists. Its after Napoleonic wars that people under absolute monarchies rulership in Europe began demanding an actual representation. Well, if you dont think thats a bad thing of course...
There's also the fact that by the time Constantine came into power, the Praetorians were crushed militarily after foolishly deciding to fight him. So disbanding them was a mere formality, he already crushed them in the battlefield, disbanding them was just finishing the work he started.
Why not taking near-retirement legionnaires and giving them the task of spending the last, say, 5 years of their 25 years of service as praetorians, then after these years have passed, you take other legionnaires and so and so.
(I should add that old legionnaires were extremely tough and very loyal for the most, having been hardened by decades of battle and hardships).
What a.... good idea.
Probably one old vet and their young relative.
Veteran legionaries were probably invaluable on the fronts, both in fighting and serving as example for younger legionaires. Moving them away from the legions might not be a good idea.
True, but you'd be only taking 5,000 out of the hundreds of thousands available, not much damage really
Sounds like a good idea on paper. But would you risk having some total strangers as your bodyguards?
_Now you see why I spent so much time away from Rome? Because I knew that even when purging the Guard of those disloyal rascals, the ones who replaced them would eventually turn out the same way._
My emperor, with all due respect to thy highness, thy son committed an act of most cringedom when he gave everyone Roman citizenship.
@@decimusausoniusmagnus5719_...And in so doing, merely completing a process that had long been ongoing. The great Illyrians may not have risen so high had not my fine son issued his Edict, my dear pleb._
I hadn't seen it from that angle, My Emperor.
Shut the fuck up, you aren't Severus.
don't you have an economy to destroy or something?
I wish there was a term to describe "Special elite bodyguard soldiers that aren't either elite, loyal or both". Same thing happened to the Janissaries, SS, NKVD and CIA (note: most of these actually started of being pretty elite and loyal but over time seemed to get corrupt)
Was the NKVD really bodyguards? They were the secret police.
@@jacktobias6513 Yeah, mostly internal police, prison security and border patrol that got pressed into frontline service. The results were obviously not that great.
@@STG44musikmeister Yeah but being all that does not make you a bodyguard,
I get what you mean but I don't think janissaries belong there, wouldn't gardeniers be more fitting?
that list makes no sense.
Pretorian guard says to the emperor:
"Look at me, LOOK AT ME, I'm the captain now"
There was a time an Emperor (I forgot who) made the praetorians do guard duty in the aurelian walls, and they cried hard.
I think that was Probus. No doubt some payback for the murder of his old friend and leader.
Wasn't that Diocletian?
@@carltomacruz9138 Yea think so.
I think the biggest hurdle to pass in getting rid of them is the fact that they're from rich and important families
yep and that would be one that would over look the most is there recruit pool. if the recruit pool is of right and important families then they are not going to be of much value then say those of upper middle class and others less off. if the praetorian guard had to recruit from the lower parts of society and families then those same persons could in time remove the guard's flaws or at least the 5 sins there is or at least some of them. other wise a small recruitment pool does not do anyone any favors.
Opening clip is Pertinax lol
Or Didius Iulianus
Perfect! Opening segment is the EXACT dichotomy Emperor's had, from mid Principate to mid Dominate, to "their" Praetorian Guard. May bodyguards & police of democracies never degenerate into the Praetorian of old... We should never forget lest we repeat.
They already did. The new praetorians are the media who see themselves as Warwick, kingsmakers. The new ideologies are meant to undermine any other forces which may or may not coalesce against them. They don't really need to act as a praetorian guard because tarnishing reputations is equally as good.
@@alexandragamingronyno2275 Close but no Cigar, the CIA and FBI are closer to being our modern day Pretorians.
uhm, have you ever SEEN american cops? they are praetorians through and through.
Now it's back to corrupt senators and officials....just like the dying days of the Republic.
Too late.
Emperor: What are you...?
Praetorians: I'm Rome's Reckoning.
Killing Elagabulus was based though.
Absofuckinlutely
_What an embarrassment to my clan...my own great-nephew..._
Even Praetorians can do SOMETHING right now and then.
Emptying the treasury of the most powerfull economic power in the world just with buying huge diamonds, cloths you not wear once or overpriced perfumes is a chad skill all of it self
@Depresso Caspico eleagabalus is the most underrated chad along with maximinus thrax
"Praetorians were not elite..."
"THE FIRST MARVEL RPG ON CELL PHONES!"
"And so Constantine told.... that the Praetorian Guard.... would.... be... ABOLISHED!"
This video is full of lies! Praetorians were the most loyal, humble and skilled warriors in the known world! They earned every penny of their salary for their diligence in day to day work, there are no equals! Nations shivering at the sound of their footsteps, soldiers shivering at their sight! Elite is more than appropriate for such livin gods! Shame on you!
.
This comment was sponsored by the Praetorian Guard :)
You made the Praetorian's sound like a decadent workers union that is afraid of change and competition. Ow wait...
Well this comment is sponsered by Constantine The Great... :)
@@fraskf6765 There could be flying saucers in Rome 2 it wouldn't make the game any worst so I'm okay with capable Rome 2 praetorians.
I like your comment but the :) was too much. It doesn't make more funny, it just show you try to give stupid people one more chance to understand the joke, I say fuck them, this is what "WHOOOOSH" was invented for.
5:56 More precisely, any Drill "Instructor" will know that rural American recruits are usually better than urbanite recruits w/"lay of the land instinctiveness", proper use of rifles & withstanding weather. Compared to other non-American urbanites, urbanite recruits are known for needing to RE-learn the PROPER use of sidearms. Lack of US gun-control causes US recruits to develop sidearm "bad habits". To be Roman is to assume a healthy hard working farmer will always be better than a sickly urbanite recruit... when cities were cauldrons of disease before industrialized farming.
Wait what you mean whit re learn use of sidearms, are they pointing them sideways or what? I mean no idea about calibrating it but like is this is not really self explanatory what you do whit a gun that has iron sights? Maybe i miss something as European because i never owned one but just used on of my uncles but expect the safety this seems rather obvious.
@@kingoliever1 People will do the weirdest things when they have, from early adolescence to adulthood, access to sidearms but no training w/any firearms at all. On firing range w/side arms training such urbanite recruits will do things that look cool in an American action movie but completely eliminate any chance of hitting the target. Contrast it to the rural Americans who would often have a father figure to train them w/rifles so when the rifle range portion of training comes a long they're the only ones who excel at hitting the target.
@@kingoliever1 I think he means by that a finger on a trigger when you are not shooting or getting ready to shoot. I see too many people doing that sh*t when they hold a gun.
@@TominusMaximus Yes.
Yeah. Urban soldiers complain alot, hate the outdoors...I can go on.
Your editing skill is getting better also really cool vid
"they killed him as well" part got me laughing
Thank God the Secret Service never got any ideas, we don't wanna get a crisis of the 21st century happening in arguably the most powerful nation yet.
JFK
This is really good. Both educational and super funny. Your editing is god-tier
Their symbol is a scorpion? Interesting
So, they are basically a police force with astronomical wages.
I learn so much from this channel
Far out man ! Excellent video . Very informative.
this is fantastic stuff man good work
Caligula had some success by instigating a purge of the Praetorian Guards' senior officers and instituting a cohort of German guardsmen (the Numerus Batavorum) as his personal bodyguard cadre: the German Cohort were recruited from distant parts of the empire, and so had no political or family connections in Rome. It was, in fact, a very similar concept to the Varangian Guard.
It was a necessary measure, as it turned out, and one which worked, for a time. Caligula's security measures succeeded in foiling a number of conspiracies against him, including one led by Gaetulicus, commander of the veteran legions stationed in Germania. Caligula would eventually be assassinated by the Praetorian Tribune Cassius Chaerea, but Chaerea was no Sejanus: he didn't outlive Caligula by very long, executed by loyalist Praetorians.
But Numerus Batavorum were founded already by Julius Caesar and Augustus. And Caligula purging Praetorians was probably the reason why he got killed by them in the first place.
But Numerus Batavorum were founded already by Julius Caesar and Augustus. And Caligula purging Praetorians was probably the reason why he got killed by them in the first place.
@@TominusMaximus You're correct that the German Guard wasn't a *new* idea, but it was probably a necessary one under the circumstances.
As for purging the Praetorians, you'll recall that Caligula's uncle Drusus was poisoned during a fued with the Preatorian Prefect, Sejanus. And his elder brothers Nero and Drusus both died under suspicious circumstances when it seemed as though they might present obstacles to Sejanus' power. To Caligula, it must have seemed as though he had three options: 1) be an obedient puppet like Tiberius, and hope you don't outlive your usefulness like Tiberius. 2) Do nothing, and die under suspicious circumstances. 3) Purge the Praetorian leadership, and at least have a fighting chance.
@@stephenwood6663 i had read that Alexander severus/ gordian the third had planned to form a new bodyguard corp for the emperor called candidarii,because they had White clothes
I would hate to be a 3rd century emperor (it seems as an absolute hell)
Step down and farm cabbages.
@@user-lo1kn1pw4y Based Diocletian moment.
Being a Roman Emperor was awful. You think you'd get to chill out and eat grapes, but instead of that you must be in a 24/7 alert state to avoid assassinations, deal with economic crisis, plagues, plebs, uprisings, invasions, and a lot more.
@@RyoKasai25 And when you're doing TOO good to the point where people are starting to see you as something, some scrawny looking dudes will end your life for reasons
@@user-lo1kn1pw4y What if some bald kid and his friends keep wrecking your cabbages
This is the best Roman channel, along with Dovahatty
I was about to ask about them in a video, you beat me to it.
😘
That "Devil's Advocate for the Praetorians" was amazing. I've been advocating that devil for a while.
Even if Praetorian memes are still hilarious.
love your channel m8. I'm eating up all your vids in one sitting
Omfg that scene intro couldn't more perfectly summarize the dynamic that's a genius move
The Praetorians were indeed elite, but before the Imperial Era. There is a record, I believe by Suetonius, how Mark Antony's and Octavian's Praetorians valiantly fought each other to death.
And living in the capital city would not necessarily corrupt the imperial guard. The Varangians always defended their emperor zealously. They were the only unit that provided resistance in 1204, when Constantinople's garrison surrendered. But I think that the key here is that they were foreign mercenaries, so they could have no ambition to hold power.
Your ending section highlights just how hard it was to come by loyalty in the Roman empire. Without clear, enforced laws of succession, Roman politics was a mess.
Anyways to go about reforming the Praetorians, could replace them with loyal soldiers that have followed their generals across multiple campaigns. Legionnaires would be more loyal to their leaders than money. However:
1) Eventually the men will retire and be replaced by less loyal recruits
2) The emperor would need been on a major campaign beforehand to earn the loyalty of the men.
Could completely dismantle the Praetorians. Replace them with an entirely new unit. One that doesn't have the absurd benefits previously held by Praetorians. The new guard could be constituted by soldiers of various legions, routinely cycled from various legions.
Praetorians could be pulled from distinguished veterans in their final years of service. A well paid but short position, limiting chances for plotting.
Perhaps Praetorians could only serve under a single emperor. If the emperor dies, they lose their job. Would encourage them not to murder every emperor because it's mildly convenient for their life of self-indulgence.
There's definitely flaws to all options, but the way it worked back in Rome had room for improvement. Modern police & military units don't just assassinate government officials all the time.
Or use foreigners with no attachment or loyalties, as the Byzantines ended up doing.
You can make the Praetorians as a rotating job. All legions will have a chance, like 1 year posting or something.
The intro is epic
Love ur content bro
The title and thumbnail made me laugh and click... well done!
I've been looking for you in my subbox
Nero was a decent emperor, fight me
06:10. Unless you come from a rougher part of the city. Even then, constant training is needed to counter city vices and the life of a sedentary base.
Really well done. Impressive 👍!
As Emperor, why not delegate Imperial guard duty to your own personal bodyguard unit, and just have the Praetorian Guard carry out other duties throughout the city? Your personal bodyguard (which you'd have since before becoming Emperor) should be much more loyal to you personally than the Praetorians.
King Joffrey from Game of Thrones of all people had that. He had personal guards from House Lannister while the Goldcloaks did his dirty work in King's Landing. He even mentioned creating a unified continental army instead of having to cobble together one from the various houses every time a war occurred. He's like Caesar Augustus but dumber and less capable of leadership.
You basically create Praetorian 2.0
The praetorians were originally stood up as bodyguards of the Scipio family during the Roman republic. They were essentially hand picked troops, that obviously changed later on
I have been waiting for this. lol
Great Stuff thanks
Emperors: I am in charge
Pretorians: You sure lad?..
Legionaries: Yeah, are ya?
Something I find very interesting when reading over this list is seeing the kind of people that the Praetorian guard killed
Caligula, Elegabalus, Caracalla, Pupienus/Balbinus, Thrax
All Emperors who were incompetent, cruel and harmful to the empire
Only one truly great emperor, Aurelian, died by their hand whilst several good ones died to the army.
I have to wonder if history may have gone differently if Honorius and Valentinian the III had their 30 year reigns cut short by the boys in purple to be replaced by someone else, they couldn't do much worse than killing Stillicho, Aetius and Majorian
You missed like 10-15 more good emperors that died because of those degenerates.
Id say this, some of those emperors have a bad reputation because Senate disliked them, and senators had their own historians, and Praetorians became tool for it.
Another issue with Praetorians is that they were Romans. Whatever royal guard you have, it is better for them to be strangers, there is a reason why Varangian guard were Swedish, Hitler's Bodyguards were Tibetans, Papal guard is Swiss and Jannissaries were Balkaners, because no one is going to use the strangers to get in power.
@@AxenfonKlatismrekwait what,Hitler had tibetan bodyguards?are you seeious? However,i think that maximinus thrax Is overrated
@@alessandrogini5283 When your guard speaks different language, no one can take advantage of that. And also they'll have little to no connections to politics of your own.
@@alessandrogini5283 Thrax is just corrupt politician, who took advantage of situation, just like other.
Honestly the fact that the Praetorians put up the Roman EMPIRE up for sale is one of the craziest historical facts ever
You should do a part II where people give suggestions to dominate the Praetorian and say what you tink about the suggestions and in the end do your own opinion
Lol that LotR reference. Good work!
I'm very happy with this channel and now im your subscribed praetorian 😁
Tbh... having the Praetorians in a smaller unit, one where the loyalty was sworn and had an oath more intimate could've helped out as well.
Constantine the Great did well with removing them too though, so, it be like that sometimes.
Since praetorians practicly elected emperors, roman empire is esentcaly democracy
Just bit more brutal XD
More like an oligarchy
@Glockjaw worm greetings to polish commrade, how are u?
My boy Little Boots (Caligula) liked the video!
Aye, Lilboots! My fav SoundCloud rapper
I really hope you dont have any sisters
Why not replace praetorians with loyal men and abolish all praetorian privileges?
Have each legion cycle through praetorian duties among them
Then you end up putting degenerates in the legions, speeding up the decline. Everyome getting Praetorian status even for a second is spoiled.
@@TheBayzent not really since everyone would be trained and held accountable in the same way.
Well they did. The Palatini were loyal and truly elite soldiers that also guarded the palace. Or you can even go further in time to Byzantium with the recruitement of the Varangian mercenaries. The key to their loyalty is that they had no political ties to system the person they were serving was ruling. The Praetorians came from important families and removing them wasn't as easy. The Palatini didn't have this problem, being actual soldiers and loyal only to the emperor, following him on campaigns. The Varangians were even better since they were complete foreigners that most of the time didn't even care about court intrigue and were truly loyal to the gold they were being paid. The Praetorians were a symptom of a broken and half assed autocracy that wouldn't be amended until Diocletian.
What a nice channel, subscribed. Love how we are getting both eastern and western Roman history in YT lately. Can I ask what country you are from?
The first clip was absolutely perfect
Janniseries: damn good tactic might try....
Kills the bearers of Kut and damns the empire.
Same dynamic with the Cia FBI and DIa.
that is why from the 1st century ad onward praetorians were fighters selected among non-latin speakers and non-roman citizens. basically, they came from roman provinces and were selected only if they couldn't speak latin and if they had no ties with roman citizens and politics. this way, it would have been much harder to bribe them or involve them in plots to overthrow the emperor.
one words that can make all historians cry in relation to the praetorians: Aurelianus
Nice easteregg at end
Ah so they were like cops!
What about the paladins, which Constantine replaced the Praetorians with?
Thats Charlemagne and they were more trusted officers than an elite corp. (not really like Knights or the Holy Orders that people seem to confuse them for because Fantasy.)
Constantine's personal guard would be the Schola and Palatini.
You mean Cataphract?
@@syntax2004 Cataphracts weren't really considered Elite by the Romans till the Byzantines.
Ottoman Janissaries: Finally a worthy opponent our battle will be legendary
👏🙂
Very interesting.
the dark knight rises intro was so hilarious i pressed the like button immediately just for that
3:58 Actually, A LOT of people missed Nero. Successors Otho and Vitellius honored Nero's memory, multiple usurpers pretended to be Nero in order to gain popular support, and even to the 5th century, people believed and wanted him to return to take back the empire.
What they didn't know was that he returned as an anime girl.
Bro, no one missed Nero. Vespasian literally had to tear down Neros extravagant palace (Domus Area) because it was such a symbol of decadence and waste of money in the eyes of people. His golden statue (Colossus) was given a golden crown to resemble a Sun God just to avoid tearing it down. The whole bullshit "Nero set Rome on fire" or "Nero played on a fiddle when Rome was burning" stories are made out of a pure hatred for this arrogant his-own-mother-murdering Emperor.
Never heard of Vitellius honoring Nero memory, I read only that he was sucking up to him when Nero was an Emperor and Vitellius his general.
Otho honoring Nero might be the reason why he reigned only three months.
And the pseudo Neros were just a small scale uprising of some obscure people in the East.
@@TominusMaximus "for so far as the rest of [Nero's] subjects were concerned, there was nothing to prevent his continuing to be Emperor for all time, seeing that even now everybody wishes he were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he still is, although in a certain sense he has died not once but often along with those who had been firmly convinced that he was still alive." - Dio Chysostom
"And to leave no doubt in anyone's mind what model he chose for the government of the State, [Vitellius] made funerary offerings to Nero in the middle of the Campus Martius, attended by a great throng of the official priests; and when at the accompanying banquet a flute-player was received with applause, he openly urged him "to render something from the Master's Book as well"; and when he began the songs of Nero, Vitellius was the first to applaud him and even jumped for joy." - Suetonius
Otho only lasted 3 months because he claimed the emperorship when Vitellius was already revolting against Galba. He inherited a problem. His honoring Nero had nothing to do with his downfall.
"When in the midst of the other adulations of those who congratulated and flattered him, [Otho] was hailed by the common herd as Nero, he made no sign of dissent; on the contrary, according to some writers, he even made use of that surname in his commissions and his first letters to some of the governors of the provinces." - Suetonius
Even when the overwhelmingly anti-Nero ancient authors say that he was hated by all, they contradict themselves when they bring up the (mostly plebeian) people who honored his memory and left flowers at his tomb.
As for the pseudo-Neros being supported by "obscure people in the East":
"Vologaesus, king of the Parthians, when he sent envoys to the senate to renew his alliance, earnestly begged that honour be paid to the memory of Nero. In fact, twenty years later, [...], a person of obscure origin appeared, who gave out that he was Nero, and the name was still in such favour with the Parthians that they supported him vigorously and surrendered him with great reluctance." - Suetonius
"...the armies of Parthia were all but set in motion by the cheat of a (third) counterfeit Nero" - Tacitus
TBF imposters have popped up throughout history whenever a ruler or their heir dies suddenly and under suspicious circumstances.
Another nice video! Would it be possible to make a video in the future about Emperor Caracalla and his decision of granting citizenship to the entire population of the Roman empire ? Why didn't he do it gradually to integrate the people like the transalpine region in Caesars time ? Wouldn't this also make the army a bit more stable, since the system of "you serve in the army and afterwards will get citizenship" would be a nice incentive. All I can think of, is that he wanted to avoid another social war where provinces would be dissatisfied that they didn't have the same benefits as roman citizens, but I am not sure about that and I'd like your imput, if possible!
Cool idea m8. I will give it some thought
@@TominusMaximus thanks for replying!
If you believe Cassius Dio, Caracalla's chief motivation for universal citizenship was that non-citizens were exempt from many taxes, and Caracalla needed the cash for placating his soldiers and setting up other unhealthy precedents. You're (I think) correct that a longterm side effect of this was to remove the principle incentive to spend 20 years in the legions, and recruitment gets really difficult as army life was never a picnic to start with. The fact they never found a good alternative to citizenship for service, or perhaps the fact they couldn't afford the good alternatives, probably contributes to why the post-Tetrarchy empire has such manpower issues after defeats like Adrianople.
Amazing vid! Thanks for the cool historical debunkings and such! Keep it up!
Also, where can I donate? Eehh, I mean.. where can I bribe praetorians?
Thanks but no need to donate, just watch and share the videos.
@@TominusMaximus I appreciate your modesty man. I understand you dont wanna be asking for money or whatever, but I will scour your description on the next video, to see if there is a patreon link there (in case you change your mind)! I think there must be more people who want to support your work!
Anyway, I will share your videos with whomever is interested! :)
I like this alot
Only a small mention of Aurelians murder : ( Outside of that great video : )
It was a treachery only by a single man that tricked two officers
Aurelians death is such a anticlimactic bullshit that I avoid talking it about it in general.
@@TominusMaximus however, it without aurelus, Gallic Empire never rise, and gallienus was hable to save the eastern province with diplomacy by odenatus. However, imagine if trajan or caesar had the shitty army of severus alexander
@@alessandrogini5283 You have an Aurelian situation.
@@orrorsaness5942 how aureliano payd the army?
Pretorians are less of a soldier and more of a politician considering how they play in roman politics game although for someone that has such a lofty position they actually can do their job as legion if called upon just not neccesarily as elite as other elite unit due to their position.
Still i'm more of a palatine guard myself.
greetings from Poland
Siemka kto pl
@@TominusMaximus Ja
That begin was classic
I would fix the problem by indeed replacing the praetorian guard by loyal legionairres *however* i would have the select legionarres only stay in the city for guard duty for a minimal time and there will be a constant cycle of legionarres taking up guard duty. To solve the problem that these new guards might have with leaving the city i will ensure they will always be able to return to guard duty based on a schedule. Perhaps 500 legionarres (i say 500 because idk how large the pratorian presence was actually supposed to be) become city and emperor guards for 1 month (so they don't become too comfy) and are then scheduled to leave guard duty for 2 - 3 months until they can then have another month of guard duty in the cities again. Oh also they will have specialised training attached to their legionnarry training that emphasises the ideal of loyalty wherein they will have to have studied some great epics that inspire qualities of loyalty and honor. Additionally they'll be with extra pay (even when not on active guard duty).
Any problems anyone may have with this strategy please tell me as i think its almost fool proof and forgive spelling mistakes im typing quick and not going back to correct stuff.
the time spent traveling between the legions/frontline and their palace/city guard duty is a problem. to make up for it have the dichotomy be 6 months guard duty vs 2 years on the front lines.
also you want the regular city guard to know the city, so i would split the city guard from the palace guard.
Praetorian guard: We really need to get rid of whom
ever is turning Rome into a shit show
Emperor Poopyanus: : |
the worst part is i didnt even notice poopyanus isnt a roman name
Αll these problems, just because the empire has no clear line of succession...
If the emperor could be only from aristocratic families, you would risk degeneracy in the line itself, but at least not degeneracy in the institutions responsible for the passing of power.
It says a lot that Snoke's Praetorian Guard was still better at their job than the actual Praetorians
9:59 Lmao ("good luck with that") :D.
you are just excellent
Couldn't the emperor try to somehow put the best leggioners in the praetorian guard and go to campaingns with them to make them disciplined and loyal?
of course at least take the lot out to fight or at least give them orders to renforce other legions in the field and help them out as needed or at least for rotations. if anything rome's enemies would gladlly take a shoot at them for the loot they have which would make the praetorian guard be on alert.
@@TheManofthecross and pheraps to purge the incompetent praetorians a african(to not use the rinhes legions) legion could be used to kill those who oposed the emperor
@@ostrio I see that could work though would a legion from say iseral etc could do the same thing as well?
@@TheManofthecross phearps i just choose froom Africa to not leave any frontier exposed
@@ostrio true that would work untill africa becomes a hot bed of front line fighting then your fucked.
What about Varangian guard of Byzantine Empire ? They stayed loyal until crusader's sieged Constantinopole and Emperor had no more money to pay them until they left they're post. Could you have made Praetorian guard loyal by using Scandinavians ? "butthurt Finnish "you" when turning to preatorian guard "
Because they cared about glory and money in a different way and they were foreigners who did not speak the same language
Bc they are foreigners mercenaries with no loyalties and no connections whatsoever with people of byzantine except the Basileus who contract them!
@@eric11 True, as Finnish i am not Germanic so i honestly cannot say much about they're mindset but i just state that they were loyal until impossible odds and no pay. The Empire was much smaller at the time of Byzantine and Christian, so this is pure speculation.
The Juli-Claudians emperors did have a Germanic bodyguard that functioned much like the Varangians. Their loyalty to the family had them disbanded.
@@Jauhl1 Well Germans did originaly come form Scandinavia so makes sense, nice to hear that the theory has some echo of truth to it at those times in history
City Guards. That's the best description. More of paramilitary or internal security. I'd just summoned a Legion and cycle the guards out. The best Legion greats the honor to relieve the older guards.
I wouldve made the praetorian guard position restricted to veteran legionaires as a reward to distinguished service. I'd set the minimum age at 30 years old and once they died off or took retirement I would give the position out to active legions according to a running queue. They can put their best men in the guard. Maybe by voting by the centurions or the rank and file legionaires. That way I motivate the legionaires, justify the pay increase in the eyes of legionaires, and ensure skilled loyal members of the praetorian guard.
Nice video about the Praetorian guards. I agree they were more greedy and disloyal guards than soldiers.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the Urban Cohort was the one that was tasked with keeping the city under control and the Praetorian Guards main job was keeping all the important people like the emperor safe?
I feel like something like this has happened in our lifetimes..
The Feds of Ancient Rome
I see two possible ways of helping alleviate the Praetorian guard issue to make them more manageable.
1. Instead of having the Praetorian guard be it’s own unit, have it be made up of cohorts from the different legions in the empire. You could take one cohort from ten legions to make up the praetorian guard. This could come with a ten year service in the city for each cohort, which would be rotating one cohort each year with another cohort. Through this means, you could cut back on some of the corruption by ensuring there’s no permanent power structure in place and the praetorian guard could function. It wouldn’t solve the issue, but it would reduce some of the worst effects.
2. Make the praetorian guard up of veteran legionaries from across the empire. Being praetorian becomes a reward for service rather than a system based on nepotism. To add to this, the service time would be capped out at a ten year service and they are still expected to go through the same training as standard Roman legionaries. This would make a more elite force while also mitigating the issue of corruption.
Two ideas to solve the Praetorian probelm:So the Emperor could in theory create the Praetorian Guard and the Schoolae Palitani and put a Prefect in both and it would be harder to plot because if one plotted the other could defeat them and be the only guard(basicly creat a rivaliry betwen the Scholae and Praetorian) OR why didn't the Emperor after purging the Praetorian hire some dudes and make himself Prefect making the Praetorians answer directly to him and make their payments his responsability? (Apperently that causes trouble for the Republic because Generals would pay the army instead of the Senate)
Not a weird force of evil, but the bored clean guys with swords that got into political mess because of them being bored
Great use of the USMC DIs clip. 100% accurate 😂