Augustus and the Praetorian Guard: Rome's Shadow Power

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the origins and early years of the Praetorian Guard, the elite unit that began as Augustus's personal bodyguard and evolved into a kingmaker and threat to emperors. They trace its roots to the republican era, when generals like Scipio Africanus and Marius had their own praetorian cohorts, and follow Augustus's formal creation of nine cohorts in 27 BCE, stationed in Rome and Italy under the command of two equestrian prefects. The conversation covers the guard's role in Augustus's security, the Sejanus scandal under Tiberius that revealed its power, and its eventual disbandment by Constantine. Along the way, they touch on the guard's recruitment from Italy, its privileges and pay, and its part in the assassination of Caligula and the Year of the Four Emperors. The episode reveals how a bodyguard meant to protect the princeps became a political force that could make or break emperors, and asks whether Augustus's creation was a necessary safeguard or a fatal flaw in the imperial system. #Augustus #PraetorianGuard #RomanEmpire #Sejanus #Tiberius #Caligula #Rome #ImperialGuard #CastraPraetoria #Equites #RomanHistory #AncientRome #Bodyguard #Kingmaker #YearOfTheFourEmperors #Constantine #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo