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Bingham (S.) The Praetorian Guard. A History of Rome's Elite Special Forces . Pp. xii + 240, b/w & colour pls. London and New York : I.B. Tauris , 2013. Cased, £25. ISBN: 978-1-84511-884-6 .
Reviews
THE PRAETORIAN GUARD
The praetorian guard is a greatly maligned institution. In popular culture the guard is remembered as an instrument of tyranny, adept at both creating and removing emperors, whose loyalty could be purchased by the highest bidder. As B.'s engaging volume demonstrates, this reputation is ill deserved. A number of studies on the guard have been published since the fundamental works of Durry and Passerini (M. Durry, Les Cohortes Prétoriennes [1938]; A. Passerini, Le Coortie Pretorie [1939]). B.'s account is the first comprehensive overview published in English in recent years and is designed to be accessible to both a specialist and a general readership. The subtitle of the volume could be misconstrued, as the praetorians did not offer the advanced fighting skills exhibited by special forces in the modern world. Although they did occasionally serve on campaign, notably under Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, the praetorians could never surpass the martial abilities of the provincial armies. Yet the guard can be classed as an elite unit on account of their privileged levels of pay and length of service in comparison with the legions. The pleasures of military service in the imperial capital may also have been attractive although, as B. notes, unsanitary conditions in Rome could have had an adverse impact on their health.
The primary role of the guard was to safeguard the lives...