What are the differences between the praetorian guard and other

They became more than just the emperor's bodyguards. It's kinda more like Washington DC's police force being an extremely powerful elite force of soldiers that didn't just keep the capital safe but controlled access to the city.

>>3359481
The Praetorian guards were more than the secret service.
they were the only ones admitted while bearing arms in the center of sacred Rome, and most of the time they sided with whomever paid them best

>>3359528
Is them being able to bear arms the thing that allowed them to turn into a political force?

>>3359557
the only thing*

>>3359481

Some would argue that having a force in place that could remove bad emperors when necessary might have actually been the plan all along.

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>What are the differences between the praetorian guard and other "royal" guards like the American secret service?
They weren't just a bodyguard force, they were an army in their own right, there were 10,000 of them at their height.

>How did Augustus fuck up implementing the palace guards so badly that they could depose emperors at will and literally sell the job to the highest bidder?
Well you can't have your emperor running around with no guard, and in the case of an insurgency you can't leave them without the means to defeat it.

Recognising that you don't need 10,000 guys to do this and that it was retarded that they were allowed so much leeway, Constantine replaced them with the Schola Palatinae, a much smaller force.

>>3359583
So basically, the praetorians were an elite legion stationed in Rome, and dicked around with their leader the same way every other legion did except on a much larger scale, until they got balls-deep in political fuckery and that's when septimius severus stepped in and reorganized them

>>3359481

While we're on the topic, what was the process for becoming a Praetorian? I imagine it must have been much more arduous than the training of a typical legionary.

>>3359604
I'd imagine your uncle knowing the right people would be a pretty strong factor but that's pulled purely out my ass.

>>3359710
Not at all. Later example, but Justinian was able to get a gig as a palace guard because his uncle was an officer in them.

>>3359719
I meant, not at all pulled out of your ass. Family connections pulling strings was a big part of becoming a Praetorian, which was a cushy job all things considered.

In contrast, the pathway from Legionary to Praetorian was difficult to impossible.

But who led the Praetorian Guards? It seems like whatever general was in charge would be the real ruler of Rome, not the Emperor.

>>3359481
Did Praetorian Guards really wear blue?

>>3359774
In theory the Emperor appointed someone he could trust to the position and that system worked really well for some Emperors like Hadrian, who had loyal praetorian prefects working for Rome instead of their own ambition.

For the vast majority though it is as you say, anything the Emperor wanted done it would need the approval of the praetorian prefect, going against him would mean going against the army since those who got the position were usually soldiers very respected and loved by the troops, any ambitious enough prefect could, and usually would, say who the next emperor was gonna be.

Which ironically enough would be their undoing when they tried it again declaring Maxentius emperor and getting completely BTFO by Constantine.

>>3359785
Probably
They did wear purple capes though

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>>3359481
>What are the differences between the praetorian guard and other "royal" guards like the American secret service?

The Praetorian "guard" weren't simply a passive security force, they were both the Emperor's personal army and his secret police.

They were basically the most privileged soldiers in the empire. While most pedes were slogging in the mud with shoddy equipment fighting forest savages, these were the chosen few, given excellent pay, the finest equipment, and the cushiest post in the military.

The main difference is the lack of checks and balances on their power, and at times the Praetorians wielded inordinate influence and could implement reigns of terror, at times even deciding who gets to be emperor. This problem became so bad that when Constantine disbanded the Praetorian guard, he replaced them with a force of Germanic soldiers, as being stranded in a foreign country without knowing the language limited their ability to influence society.

>>3359481
The latter have guns