Praetorian Guard Questions

[antiochus]

I have been reading various papers including the Osprey on the Praetorian Guard and I am wondering why most of the authors are suspicious about the size of the Praetorian Guard given in the ancient sources.

Dio writes that in the days of Augustus, the Praetorian Guards numbered 10,000 men organized in 10 divisions. What is wrong with the Praetorian Guard for this period having 10,000 men? After all in the mid republic there was two legions assigned to protect Rome, this makes 10,000 men in total which is no different to the 10,000 Praetorian Guard under Augustus.

According to Tacitus during the reign of Tiberius there was stationed in Rome nine praetorian cohorts. Following Dio from above, this would equate to 9000 praetorians. In 69 AD, Vitellius formed 16 new praetorian cohorts and four urban cohorts from his own legionaries, giving a total of 20,000 men. (Footnote 7) This would amount to 16,000 praetorians and 4000 urbaniciani. So why are many I read suspicious of these numbers?

Also some authors state the praetorian cohorts increased under Galigula or Claudius and then again under Domitian. They do not give any references and I haven’t been able to find them. Are they basing these increases on assumptions made by studying CIL records? Any help would be greatly appreciated in finding these references.

Steven

[M. Demetrius]

I've just finished reading the first section of Soldiers of Rome: Praetorians and Legionnaires by Robert F. Evans, ISBN 0-932020-36-4. He gives a pretty good account of the history of the Praetorian Guard, and has many references and sources listed in the back of the book. Might check that out. I got my copy used on Amazon, for under 12 USD, including postage.

[D B Campbell]

Dio writes that in the days of Augustus, the Praetorian Guards numbered 10,000 men organized in 10 divisions. What is wrong with the Praetorian Guard for this period having 10,000 men?

Everything we know about the Augustan army speaks against a cohort of 1,000 men. It seems that this was a Vitellian innovation (Tac., Hist. 2.93). If Augustus' Guard had had 10,000 men, it would have been 20 cohorts strong. However, we know of only cohorts numbered up to VIIII (epigraphically attested). Augustus' urbaniciani were numbered X, XI, XII, apparently continuing the numerical sequence of the Rome cohorts. Dio must simply be mistaken.

Complications arise because there appear also to have been praetoriani numbered X, XI, XII, at some point (epigraphically attested), not under Augustus, but before Vitellius. Lawrence Keppie has suggested that Claudius increased the Guard from Augustus' original nine cohorts to twelve.

As for Vitellius' enormous Guard, Keppie has doubted that Vitellius had that number of troops in Rome at his disposal. Unfortunately, there is no other corroborating evidence (apart from epigraphic record of a cohort numbered XIV), as far as I know.

Vespasian clearly reverted to the Augustan situation. One of his diplomas records a total of nine Praetorian cohorts and four Urban cohorts (CIL XVI 21). It used to be thought that Domitian added a Praetorian cohort, on the basis of CIL XVI 81 (now thought to be Hadrianic), but RMD 139 (AD 85) still lists only VI-VIIII and urbaniciani numbered X, XI, XII (and XIV).

But I'm sure that Robert F. Evans explains all of this.

[Mark Hygate]

It's something I've been looking into and pondering for a while and, as the others have alluded to above, most of the numbers quoted, even sometimes (I believe) in the ancient sources; and certainly in many more recent tomes - are all based upon the, effectively, single reference that the Praetorian cohorts were organised on a milliarae basis.

This has obviously been thought of as meaning 1,000 strong and many thereafter, including I believe 'Hyginus' indeed, have been working out organisations and numbers, including spare horses/mounts, to justify that ever since.

Given that the sources, including all those above, seem to suggest that:

- at the time of Augustus there were 9 Praetorian cohorts, with 3 based in Roma and the others in other Italian cities (individually); then that's where 9,000 come from

- that a bit later (Tiberius, Caligula - although my guess is the first and around the time of Sejanus [aside - 'I, Claudius' on again - just wonderful!])) they were all concentrated in Roma and raised to 10 cohorts (to be considered similar to a legion of 10 cohorts); then that's where 10,000 comes from

- that under Vitellius he disbanded the existing Guard and installed the troops he had brought with him - and this is detailed as 16,000 specifically

- and then Vespasian reconstituted the Guard, assumed to be at the pre-Vitellius levels

What also has to be noted is that the Praetorian Guard cohorts are also all believed to have contained a mounted element and therefore, to my belief, should be considered similarly organised as the Auxilia Cohors Equitatae; and this would make perfect sense as they could be considered as both garrison units and with the need to commonly provide mounted escorts.

Whilst ~100 mounted men (~3 turma) have been suggested per cohort, this does seem an odd number and my interpretation of all the available evidence is that the most likely standard establishment of a Praetorian Guard cohort was 6 x centuria of infantry (480+) and 4 x turma of 'cavalry' (120).

[PS - more detail by the end of May....]

[Frank]

Whilst ~100 mounted men (~3 turma) have been suggested per cohort, this does seem an odd number and my interpretation of all the available evidence is that the most likely standard establishment of a Praetorian Guard cohort was 6 x centuria of infantry (480+) and 4 x turma of 'cavalry' (120).

[PS - more detail by the end of May....]

Common opinion about the cohors equitata nowadays is:
cohors equitata quingenaria: 480 pedites, 128 equites = 608 men
cohors equitata millaria: 800 pedites , 256 equites = 1056 men

The question is: was a praetorian cohort at all times a millaria and were all cohorts equitata? Most authors assume that praetorian cohorts were not organized differently than auxilia cohorts. But some assume, that under Augustus they were just quingenaria. That means the praetorians started with 9 x 600 = 5400 men. And the maximum was 16 * 1000 = 16.000 men.

[M. Demetrius]

D B wrote: But I'm sure that Robert F. Evans explains all of this.

He does, yes, but it's not a simple answer. The numbers of men in the Praetorian cohorts goes up and down during their history, their uses and number of cohorts in existance at a time changes, and their pay changes--upwards. A lot had to do with whether the Emperor ruled the Guard, or feared the Guard. This also changed often enough to warrant the sums of gold given to the guardsmen when the new Emperor took office...

After some time, the way to get the Guards to support the new, incoming Emperor was almost for him to give them a larger donative than the other candidate for emperor offered, more or less. And there were many times that Praetorian guards were sent on various missions at the Emperor's order. They are implicated in the execution of more than one Emperor, and sometimes supervised the execution of those deemed enemies of the state. Constantine ended the guard during his term as Emperor, and many of the soldiers simply joined legions to help fill their ranks.

Evans' book is a very interesting read, packed with data and footnotes. The first half has to do with the Guard, the second with individual histories of the various Legions. Auxiliaries are not discussed much, sadly.

[Mark Hygate]

............

Common opinion about the cohors equitata nowadays is:
cohors equitata quingenaria: 480 pedites, 128 equites = 509 men
cohors equitata millaria: 800 pedites , 256 equites = 1056 men...

You are quite right - but, whilst I'll hope you may forgive the brevity of this statement until 'later' and indeed it may be seen as a modicum of arrogance (but that's not my intention); it is my firm intention to challenge that view.

One of the reasons being that 480 + 128 = 608

[Frank]

One of the reasons being that 480 + 128 = 608

Mea Culpa :oops:

I will edit my post above to avoid further confusion.

[Mark Hygate]

..........
Mea Culpa :oops:

I will edit my post above to avoid further confusion.

That's quite all right and please forgive me as I couldn't resist. The point that I have sought to understand for many, many years - and indeed finally believe I do - is why the accepted view, whilst indeed most seem to want to justify the numerics is why 'quingenaria' (interpreted as 500 'strong') seems to have so many meanings:

- A standard cohort of 480 + 'Officers'
- A standard ala of 16 troops (of 32) + 1 for 513
- A cohort equitata of 480 + 128 + 'Officers' of 610+

The same is true of 'milliarae'. It simply isn't the way to run an army! :wink:

[Frank]

The same is true of 'milliarae'. It simply isn't the way to run an army! :wink:

Well, I know the ongoing discussion about the paper strength of a centuria / cohors and the fact that it was never exactly 500 or 1000 men. We also don't know if the principales, especially the ones working for the central administration of the legion counted as supernumerarii and who exactly was principales or just immunis. Looking to the centurions, some legionary cohorts had 7 to 11 centurions, but just 5-6 were leading centuries. And don't forget the theory, that the turma of a millaria was 42 men strong instead of 32. Things become even more fuzzy, if we talk about effective strength not paper strength.

So we will perhaps never know exactly, the way the romans run an army. I would be interested to dicuss this issue and hear your opinion about it. I am not sure, if this topic would deserve a separate thread, but the OP asked, why people are suspicious about the numbers of the praetorian cohorts. And this is a reason, why we should be suspicious about numbers.

My point was, that we don't know exactly, if the praetorian cohorts were quingenariae or millariae at a given time. This alone makes a huge difference. And looking to ancient authors like Vegetius, I am very suspicious about their calculations, too.

[markhebb]

If anyone is interested a new book on the Praetorians has just come out:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Praetorian-Gua...rian+guard

I can't speak to it's quality and I haven't heard of the author (Sandra Bingham)...but there you go.

[Mark Hygate]

............ I would be interested to dicuss this issue and hear your opinion about it. I am not sure, if this topic would deserve a separate thread, ............ And looking to ancient authors like Vegetius, I am very suspicious about their calculations, too.

Then I will certainly hope that you are able to contribute to the thread I will eventually be posting, complete with a downloadable little 'thesis' to peruse.

Vegetius makes a starring role and, rather than suspicious, I have taken him as read and attempted to divine his purpose, which I believe I can paraphrase as '...rose-tinted it was so much better years ago...and bigger too...'

[antiochus]

Duncan Campbell wrote:
If Augustus' Guard had had 10,000 men, it would have been 20 cohorts strong. However, we know of only cohorts numbered up to VIIII (epigraphically attested). Augustus' urbaniciani were numbered X, XI, XII, apparently continuing the numerical sequence of the Rome cohorts………..Complications arise because there appear also to have been praetoriani numbered X, XI, XII…………..(apart from epigraphic record of a cohort numbered XIV), and urbaniciani numbered X, XI, XII (and XIV). Dio must simply be mistaken.

Thanks Duncan for this information and thanks for the reference to the Robert F. Evans book. I’ve ordered it from the uni library.

In the wonderful days of Romulus, a military tribune commanded 1000 men or one tribe. Now what if a praetorian cohort was nothing more than a military tribune commanding 1000 men? And what if the 1000 men were also organised into two smaller units each of 500 men? And what if the Romans call the 1000 men a cohort and the 500 men also a cohort? This would make things confusing. So could cohort XIV be a 500 man cohort that belongs to military tribune cohort VIII? Also have you any idea of which time frame ILS 2701 belongs to?


Mark Hygate wrote:
are all based upon the, effectively, single reference that the Praetorian cohorts were organised on a milliarae basis………to my belief, should be considered similarly organised as the Auxilia Cohors Equitatae.

My conclusion is a praetorian cohort is an equitatiae miliariae. The Romans have two main organisations, the tribe and the legion. The military organisation is based on a ratio of the tribal organisation and over the centuries when the size of the tribes is increased the ratio decreases. For example 6:1 will change to 5:1, 5 to 1 to 4:1, 4:1 to 3:1 etc. For his military camp Hyginus is using the tribal century arrangement and not the military century arrangement. The problem is this has a flow on effect and screws up the infantry numbers. What I find bamboozling is Hyginus is designing a military camp that should be calculated on exact unit sizes yet he has rounded his numbers.

Mark Hebb wrote:
can't speak to it's quality and I haven't heard of the author (Sandra Bingham)...but there you go.

One of these leads to Sandra Bingham’s book, but not sure which one it is, sorry about that.

http://tinyurl.com/brknaxk

http://tinyurl.com/boxxp7c

http://tinyurl.com/csnhgfx

[D B Campbell]

Also have you any idea of which time frame ILS 2701 belongs to?

This is the career of Gavius Silvanus, whom Tacitus names as a Praetorian tribune in AD 65 (Ann. 15.50). The bellum Britannicum in which he was decorated was Claudius' brief visit to Britain in AD 43, when Silvanus was perhaps a Praetorian evocatus like Vettius Valens, who was similarly decorated on the same occasion.

[antiochus]

Duncan wrote;
This is the career of Gavius Silvanus, whom Tacitus names as a Praetorian tribune in AD 65 (Ann. 15.50). The bellum Britannicum in which he was decorated was Claudius' brief visit to Britain in AD 43, when Silvanus was perhaps a Praetorian evocatus like Vettius Valens, who was similarly decorated on the same occasion.

Thanks again for the help. I want to present a hypothetical question. What if a fragment was found belonging to Hyginus that stated there was 10 praetorian cohorts? What time frame would you assign Hyginus' camp to?

Steven