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125-453: The limitanei were lower-status and lower-paid than the comitatenses and palatīnī , and the distinction in role and status between scholae , palatini , comitatenses , and limitanei had largely replaced the older one between praetorians , legionaries , and auxiliaries . The limitanei and palatini both included legionary units alongside auxiliary units. The nature of the limitanei changed considerably between their introduction in

250-756: A Persian slave. On his deathbed, Umar tasked a committee of six with choosing the next caliph among themselves. These six men from the Quraysh , all early companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , were Where they unanimously selected Uthman as the successor. During his rule, Uthman's military style was less centralised as he delegated much military authority to his trusted kinsmen—e.g., Abdullah ibn Aamir , Muawiyah I and Abdullāh ibn Sa'ad ibn Abī as-Sarâḥ —unlike Umar 's more centralized policy. Consequently, this more independent policy allowed more expansion until Sindh, in modern Pakistan , which had not been touched during

375-503: A cavalry detachment; this should not be confused with the equites singulares Augusti who appeared under the emperor Trajan. The Praetorian could become a cavalryman ( Eques ) after almost five years service in the infantry . These Praetorians remained listed in their Centuries of origin, but operated in a turma of 30 men each commanded by an Optio equitum . There was probably one turma of cavalry for two centuries of infantry. Hence, three turmae per cohorts of

500-465: A magistrate or as a promagistrate ; each was provided with lictors to protect the person of the office-holder. In practice, the offices of Roman consul and of proconsul each had twelve lictors, whilst the offices of praetor and of propraetor each had six lictors. In the absence of an assigned, permanent personal bodyguard, senior field officers safeguarded themselves with temporary bodyguard units of selected soldiers. In Hispania Citerior , during

625-736: A battlefield since the wars of the end of the Republic during the mutinies of Pannonia and the mutinies of Germania . On the death of Augustus in AD ;14, his successor Tiberius was confronted by mutinies in the two armies of the Rhine and Pannonia , who were protesting about their conditions of service being worse than the Praetorians. The forces of Pannonia were dealt with by Drusus Julius Caesar , son of Tiberius (distinct from Nero Claudius Drusus , brother of Tiberius), accompanied by two Praetorian cohorts,

750-449: A cheap and easily trained unit that has poor attack, but very high defense, simulating their role in holding the frontier and bogging down enemies while the field armies mobilized. In Civilization VI: Rise and Fall , limitanei are available as a military policy. The policy causes military units to increase the loyalty of the city they are garrisoned in. In Age of Empires IV , limitanei are cheap anti-cavalry infantry available for

875-582: A curtain. Needing an emperor to justify their own existence, they brought him forth to the Praetorian camp and proclaimed him emperor, the first emperor proclaimed by the Praetorian Guard. He compensated the guard with a prime bonus worth five years their salary. The Praetorians accompanied Emperor Claudius to Britain in 43 AD. When Claudius was poisoned, the Guard transferred their allegiance to Nero through

1000-468: A doubling of 800 (since Vespasian), probably organized in 20 centuries) under Commodus in year (187–188) or under Septimius Severus (193–211), which matches the probable numbers of effectives for Urban Cohorts during the time of Cassius Dio . These figures suggest an overall size for the Guard of 4,500–6,000 men under Augustus, 12,800 under Vitellius , 7,200 under Vespasian, 8,000 from Domitian until Commodus or Septimius Severus, and 15,000 later on. At

1125-514: A fairly well equipped and trained force of infantry for their time, especially in relation to other standing armies of the day fielded by Rome's Germanic , Celtic , Iranian , and Eastern neighbours, collectively referred to as " barbarians " by the Romans themselves. It can be surmised, due in part to these reforms, that the Western Roman Empire continued to live on for another 140 years after

1250-631: A great military and political strategist. The military conquests were partially terminated between 638 and 639 during the years of great famine in Arabia and plague in the Levant . During his reign the Levant, Egypt, Cyrenaica , Tripolitania , Fezzan , eastern Anatolia , almost the whole of the Sassanid Persian Empire including Bactria , Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus and Makran were annexed to

1375-481: A minor garrison of Rome. During the early 4th century, Caesar Flavius Valerius Severus attempted to disband the Praetorian Guard on the orders of Galerius . In response, the Praetorians turned to Maxentius , the son of the retired emperor Maximian, and proclaimed him their emperor on 28 October 306. By 312, however, Constantine the Great marched on Rome with an army in order to eliminate Maxentius and gain control of

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1500-490: A plan of military reforms enacted in the late 3rd century, was able to extend the life of the Roman Empire by pushing back the great barbarian invasions of late antiquity . The quality of these border troops declined because the limitanei had to live in poor conditions in impoverished and isolated towns, unlike their well-off counterparts the comitatenses , who were typically assigned to more urban and prosperous areas of

1625-590: A praetorian tribune, named Cassius Chaerea – whom Caligula teased without mercy due to his squeaky voice – led to the assassination of the emperor by officers of the guard. While the Imperial German Bodyguard sacked all in a search to apprehend the murderers, the Senate proclaimed the restoration of a Republic. The Praetorians, who were pillaging the Palace, discovered Claudius , uncle of Caligula , hidden behind

1750-419: Is disputed by historians. According to Azar Gat , many scholars believe that empires stationed these soldiers on the outskirts of empires as a first line of defense against raiding barbarians tribes. As the soldier profession is often not productive (prolonged periods of training with only occasional conflict), empires had long resorted to this principle of "military colonists". Thus, the late Roman empire adopted

1875-484: Is no more than an apostle, and many apostles have passed away before him." Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, with several Arab tribes launching revolts, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. These insurgencies and the caliphate's responses to them are collectively referred to as the Ridda wars ("Wars of Apostasy"). The opposition movements came in two forms. One type challenged

2000-527: Is reported to have addressed a letter to the invading force: Constantinople will be conquered from the side of Al-Andalus . Thus, if you conquer it, you will have the honor of taking the first step towards the conquest of Constantinople. You will have your reward in this behalf both in this world and the next. Although raids by Berbers and Muslims were conducted against the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain during

2125-611: Is the assertion that Khosrau II received a letter from Muhammad, as the Sassanid court ceremony was notoriously intricate, and it is unlikely that a letter from what at the time was a minor regional power would have reached the hands of the Shahanshah. With regards to Persia, Muslim histories further recount that at the beginning of the seventh year of migration, Muhammad appointed one of his officers, Abdullah Huzafah Sahmi Qarashi, to carry his letter to Khosrau II inviting him to convert: In

2250-422: Is understandable. Vegetius called for the revival of earlier Roman practices, from before the organization of the limitanei , and Mauricius wrote after the decline of the limitanei . Hugh Elton and Warren Treadgold suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and to prevent small-scale raids. Hugh Elton describes their roles as "policing

2375-408: The comitatenses . The relationship between the limitanei , of the border armies, and the pseudocomitatenses , the lowest-ranking units of the field armies, remains unclear. Theodor Mommsen proposed that the pseudocomitatenses were former units of limitanei incorporated into the mobile field armies, and most authors since have followed his theory. E.C. Nischer proposed the alternate theory that

2500-633: The Augustan period , five per cohort in 100 CE–200 CE, and ten per cohort after 200 CE, with a vexillum (flag) as emblem for each turma . Rashidun army#Jund Byzantine Empire Sassanid Persia Caucasus Other regions The Levant Egypt North Africa Anatolia & Constantinople Border conflicts Sicily and Southern Italy Naval warfare Byzantine reconquest Khuzestan Central Persia Caucasus Pars Khorasan Other geographies The Rashidun army ( Arabic : جيش الراشدين )

2625-532: The Battle of Lyon in 197, and accompanied the emperor to the Orient from 197 to 202, then to Britannia from 208 until his death at York in 211. Caracalla , son of Septimius Severus, lost favour with his troops by assassinating his own brother and co-emperor, Geta, immediately after his succession. Finally, in 217, while on campaign in the Orient , he was assassinated at the instigation of his prefect Macrinus . After

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2750-612: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, the role of the Praetorian prefect in the Empire became purely administrative, ruling large territories ( prefectures ) comprising Roman dioceses (geographical subdivisions of the Roman Empire ) in the name of the Emperor. The Praetorian Cohorts were designated as Equitatae ( cavalry ) Turmae (troops) with centuries formed of infantry , initially of 500 men each. In order not to alienate

2875-465: The Imperial German Bodyguard which provided close personal protection for the early Roman emperors. They benefited from several advantages via their close proximity with the emperor: the Praetorians were the only ones admitted while bearing arms in the center of sacred Rome, the Pomerium . Their mandatory service was shorter in duration, for instance: 12 years with the Praetorians instead of 16 years in

3000-549: The Ioviani and Herculiani (named after the gods Jove, or Jupiter , and Hercules , associated with the senior and junior emperor), replaced the Praetorians as the personal protectors of the emperors, a practice that remained intact with the Tetrarchy . In 297 they were in Africa with Maximian . By the time Diocletian retired on 1 May 305, their Castra Praetoria seems to have housed only

3125-633: The Praetorian prefect was the commanding officer of the Praetorian Guard (previously each cohort was independent and under the orders of a tribune of equestrian rank). This role (chief of all troops stationed in Rome), was in practice a key position of the Roman polity . From Vespasian onwards the Praetorian prefecture was always held by an equestrian of the eques order. ( Equestrians were traditionally that class of citizens who could equip themselves to serve in

3250-576: The Roman Levant , Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah , who also conquered parts of the Roman Levant, and Amr ibn al-As , who conquered Roman Egypt . The army was a key component in the Rashidun Caliphate's territorial expansion and served as a medium for the early spread of Islam into the territories it conquered. According to Tarikh at Tabari, the nucleus of the early caliphate forces were formed from

3375-549: The Siege of Numantia (134–133 BC), General Scipio Aemilianus safeguarded himself with a troop of 500 soldiers against the sorties of siege warfare aimed at killing Roman field commanders. At the end of 40 BC, two of the three co-rulers who were the Second Triumvirate , Octavian and Mark Antony , had Praetorian Guards. Octavian installed his praetorians within the pomerium , the religious and legal boundary of Rome; this

3500-481: The Urban Cohorts . Commodus fell victim to a conspiracy aided by his Praetorian prefect Quintus Aemilius Laetus in 192. The new emperor Pertinax , who took part in the conspiracy, paid the Praetorians a premium of 3,000 denarii; however he was assassinated three months later, on 28 March 193, by a group of Guards due to his refusal to further increase the premium which had already been paid. The Praetorians then put

3625-522: The Western Roman Empire , leading to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge . Ultimately Constantine's army achieved a decisive victory against the Praetorians, whose emperor was killed during the fighting. With the death of Maxentius, Constantine definitively disbanded the remnants of the Praetorian Guard. The remaining soldiers were sent out to various corners of the empire, and the Castra Praetoria

3750-466: The limitanei included legiones of infantry, often divided between two bases and sometimes divided among more, numeri, milites, and cohortes of infantry, as well as vexillationes, equites, cunei, and alae of cavalry. The size of the legions is unclear. A.H.M. Jones suggested that they could have as many as 3,000 troops, because they are often listed with 10 cohorts, and because they are sometimes divided among many bases. Warren Treadgold suggests that

3875-401: The limitanei , as units, and as part of the larger system, remains controversial. The soldiers of the frontier armies were paid less than their counterparts in the field armies. However, this does not imply that the field armies always hired the most promising recruits; some may have preferred to stay close to home rather than to join units which could be deployed anywhere else. The soldiers of

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4000-464: The pseudocomitatenses were positional garrison units which were independent of the border armies and thus placed under the same command as the field armies. In the past historians have suggested that the limitanei were organized as units of part-time farmer-soldiers. In this view, the limitanei were used in stationary roles along the frontier and were granted plots of land to cultivate, which essentially turned them into part-time soldiers/farmers. It

4125-473: The 3rd or 4th century and their disappearance in the 6th or 7th century. In the 4th century, the limitanei were professional soldiers, and included both infantry and cavalry as well as river flotillas, but after the 5th century they were part-time soldiers, and after the 6th century they were unpaid militia . The role of the limitanei remains somewhat uncertain. Hugh Elton and Warren Treadgold suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along

4250-706: The Byzantine navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655, opening up the Mediterranean. In Hijri year 31 (c. 651), Uthman sent Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Abdullah ibn Saad to reconquer the Maghreb , where he met the army of Gregory the Patrician , Exarch of Africa and relative of Heraclius , which is recorded to have numbered between 120,000 or 200,000 soldiers. The opposing forces clashed at Sabuthilag (or Sufetula), which became

4375-698: The Byzantines. Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard ( Latin : cohortes praetoriae ) was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence , crowd control and gathering military intelligence . During the Roman Republic , the Praetorian Guards were escorts for high-ranking political officials ( senators and procurators ) and were bodyguards for

4500-544: The Green Division (al-Katibah al-Khadra), a unit that consisted of early converts from Muhajirun and Ansar that marched on to conquer Mecca . Upon Muhammad's death, the Muslim community was unprepared for the loss of its leader and many experienced a profound shock. Umar was particularly affected, instead declaring that Muhammad had gone to consult with God and would soon return, threatening anyone who would say that Muhammad

4625-527: The Guard auctioned it off after killing Pertinax . Later that year Septimius Severus marched into Rome, disbanded the Guard and started a new formation from his own Pannonian legions. Unruly mobs in Rome often fought with the Praetorians in vicious street battles during Maximinus Thrax 's reign. In 271, Aurelian sailed east to destroy the power of Palmyra , Syria, with a force of legionary detachments, Praetorian cohorts, and other cavalry units, and easily defeated

4750-605: The Levant, parts of Anatolia, and most of the Sasanian Empire. Ridda Wars Conquest of Sasanian Persia Conquest of Byzantine Syria Campaigns in Africa Campaigns in Armenia and Anatolia Arab Muslims first attacked Sassanid territory in 633, when Khalid ibn al-Walid invaded Mesopotamia (then known as the Sassanid province of Asōristān ; roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq ), which

4875-457: The Palmyrenes. This led to the orthodox view that Diocletian and his colleagues evolved the sacer comitatus (the field escort of the emperors). The sacer comitatus included field units that used a selection process and command structure modeled after the old Praetorian cohorts, but it was not of uniform composition and was much larger than a Praetorian cohort. Starting in the year 2 BC,

5000-586: The Praetorian Cavalry, and Imperial German Bodyguards . The mutiny in Germania was repressed by the nephew and designated heir of Tiberius, Germanicus , who later led legions and detachments of the Guard in a two-year campaign in Germania, and succeeded in recovering two of the three legionary eagles which had been lost at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . Sejanus rose in power under Tiberius , and

5125-592: The Praetorian Guard becomes rare. In 249, the Praetorians assassinated Philippus II , son of the emperor Philip the Arab . In 272, in the reign of the emperor Aurelian , they took part in an expedition against Palmyra . In 284, Diocletian reduced the status of the Praetorians; they were no longer to be part of palace life, as Diocletian lived in Nicomedia , some 60 miles (100 km) from Byzantium in Asia Minor . Two new corps,

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5250-463: The Praetorian Guard to nine cohorts and ensured their political loyalty by appointing his son, Titus , as prefect of the Praetorians. Despite their political power, the Praetorian Guard had no formal role in governing the Roman Empire. Often after an outrageous act of violence, revenge by the new ruler was forthcoming. In 193, Didius Julianus purchased the Empire from the Guard for a vast sum, when

5375-500: The Praetorian Guard to proclaim him emperor. Despite the opposition of the cohorts in service in the palace, Galba and his designated successor, the young Piso, were lynched on 15 January. After supporting Otho against a third contender, Vitellius , the Praetorians were restrained following defeat and their centurions executed. They were replaced by 16 cohorts recruited from the legionnaires and auxiliaries loyal to Vitellius, almost 16,000 men. These ex-Praetorians then aided Vespasian ,

5500-414: The Praetorian Guard were first hand-picked veterans of the Roman army who served as bodyguards to the emperor. First established by Augustus, members of the Guard accompanied him on active campaign, protecting the civic administrations and rule of law imposed by the Senate and the emperor. The Praetorian Guard was ultimately dissolved by Emperor Constantine I in the early 4th century. They were distinct from

5625-569: The Praetorian cavalry and some of the German bodyguard . The German mutiny was put down by Tiberius' nephew and adopted son Germanicus , his intended heir, who then led the legions and detachments of the Guard in an invasion of Germany over the next two years. The Guard saw much action in the Year of the Four Emperors in 69, fighting well for Otho at the first battle of Bedriacum . Under Domitian and Trajan,

5750-459: The Praetorian prefect. After the construction of the Praetorian camp in 23 BC, another similar serving tribune was placed in the Praetorian camp. The guards' functions included, among many, escorting the emperor and the members of the imperial family and, if necessary, to act as a sort of riot police. Certain Empresses exclusively commanded their own Praetorian Guard. According to Tacitus, in

5875-578: The Rashidun Caliphate. Prior to his death in 644, Umar had ceased all military expeditions apparently to consolidate his rule in recently conquered Roman Egypt and the newly conquered Sassanid Empire (642–644). At his death in November 644, his rule extended from present day Libya in the west to the Indus river in the east and the Oxus river in the north. Historians estimate more than 4,050 cities were conquered during

6000-569: The Rhine and Danube, or at times part of the Euphrates, along fortified walls such as Hadrian's Wall , or along otherwise unfortified roads such as the Strata Diocletiana . Garrison forts are those at or near the towns along the frontiers, as well as other forts, garrisoned by independent units of limitanei . Detachment forts are those too small for independent units, garrisoned by detachments from

6125-637: The Ridda movements were challenges to the political and religious supremacy of the Islamic state. Through his success in suppressing the insurrections, Abu Bakr had in effect continued the political consolidation which had begun under Muhammad's leadership with relatively little interruption. By the wars' end, he had established Islamic hegemony over the entire Arabian Peninsula . After the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in 628, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad sent many letters to

6250-545: The Roman Army on horseback ). From the year 2 BC, the cohorts were under the control of two prefectures; however cohorts continued to be organized independently, each commanded by a tribune. Tribunes had as immediate subordinates ordinary Centurions , all of equal rank except for the trecenarius , the first and prime of all centurions of the Praetorian Cohorts, who commanded also the 300 speculatores , and with

6375-477: The Roman people. A famous poem by Juvenal recalls the nail left in his foot by the sandal of a Praetorian rushing by him. "Praetorian" has a pejorative sense in French, recalling the often troubling role of the Praetorian of antiquity. In ancient Rome , praetors were either civic or military leaders. The praetorians were initially elite guards for military praetors, under the republic. The early Praetorian Guard

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6500-418: The army. The 4th century limitanei included both light and heavy infantry, as well as light and heavy cavalry, and river flotillas. The limitanei garrisoned fortifications along the borders of the Roman empire. Hugh Elton divides these into four categories: "garrison forts, detachment forts, watchtowers, and fortified landing places". These fortifications could be organized into lines along rivers, such as

6625-533: The ascent of Caracalla. Under Severus Alexander the Praetorian prefecture was held by the lawyer Ulpian until his assassination by the Praetorian Guard in the presence of the emperor himself. In the spring of 238, under Maximinus Thrax , the bulk of the Praetorian Guard was employed on active service. Defended by only a small residual garrison, the Praetorian camp was attacked by a civilian crowd acting in support of senators and Gordian emperors in revolt against Maximinus Thrax. The failure of Maximinus Thrax to win

6750-457: The beginning of the 2nd century, Italians made up 89% of the Praetorian Guard. Under Septimius Severus, recruitment evolved to authorize the inclusion of legionaries of the Roman army, as well as of the battle hardened Army of the Danube . Severus stationed his supporters with him in Rome, and the Praetorian Guards remained loyal to his choices. Initially each cohort included, as for a Roman legion ,

6875-523: The border between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sassanid Empire. In 642, Umar ordered a full-scale invasion of Persia by the Rashidun army, which led to the complete conquest of the Sassanid Empire by 651. Directing from Medina , a few thousand kilometres away, Umar's quick conquest of Persia in a series of well-coordinated, multi-pronged attacks became his greatest triumph, contributing to his reputation as

7000-590: The border, gathering intelligence, and stopping raids". They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies. Edward Luttwak saw their role as a key part in a strategy of defence-in-depth, manning a range of defences from forts to walled towns in a deep defensive zone. These defences would deny routes to the enemy, securing food stocks and, in arid areas, water supplies both to restrict attackers and facilitate counterattack by provincial field armies Because units of limitanei operated in one area, had their own camps, and often recruited from

7125-473: The capital. A small number of detached cavalry units ( turmae ) of 30 men each were also organized. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in the towns surrounding Rome. This system was not radically changed with the appointment by Augustus in 2 BC of two Praetorian prefects , Quintus Ostorius Scapula and Publius Salvius Aper , although organization and command were enhanced. Tacitus reports that

7250-498: The change, though again referencing parallels of military colonists at other times in history. M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston, in a major work on Roman military equipment, do not distinguish that of the limitanei from that of the comitatenses and palatini . It is doubtful whether there were any universal differences between the equipment of the limitanei and of the other forces. The late Roman empire had centralized fabricae, introduced by Diocletian, to provide arms and armor for

7375-439: The civil war against the contenders Gordian I and Gordian II led to his death at the hands of his own troops, including the Praetorians. The senatorial candidates for the throne, Pupienus and Balbinus , recalled the Praetorian Guard to Rome, only to find themselves under attack by the Praetorians. Both were killed on 29 July 238 and Gordian III triumphed. After 238, literary and epigraphic sources dry up, and information on

7500-472: The coastal areas of Spain by sea , aided by a Berber force. They succeeded in conquering the coastal areas of Al-Andalus. It is not known where the Muslim force landed, what resistance they met, and what parts of Spain they actually conquered. However, it is clear that the Muslims did conquer some portions of Spain during the caliphate of Uthman, presumably establishing colonies on its coast. On this occasion, Uthman

7625-459: The command of the provincial governors, a smaller reserve under the command of the emperor , guard units such as the Praetorian Guard , and the urban cohorts. Field armies were temporary formations, usually composed of the reserve and/or of detachments drawn from the provincial armies. In the later 3rd century, due to the frequent wars, field armies could remain together for several years, under

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7750-464: The conquest of northern Africa was completed by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari , Abdullah ibn Sa'd continued to Spain . Spain had first been invaded some sixty years earlier during the caliphate of Uthman. Other prominent Muslim historians , like Ibn Kathir , have quoted the same narration. In the description of this campaign, two of Abdullah ibn Saad's generals, Abdullah ibn Nafiah ibn Husain, and Abdullah ibn Nafi' ibn Abdul Qais, were ordered to invade

7875-445: The conspiracy, and the members of the Guard were paid a bonus of 500 denarii each. In AD 68, the new colleague of Tigellinus, Nymphidius Sabinus , managed to have the Praetorian Guard abandon Nero in favor of the contender Galba . Nymphidius Sabinus had promised 7,500 denarii per man, but Galba refused to pay, saying "It is my habit to recruit soldiers and not buy them". This permitted his rival Otho to bribe 23 Speculatores of

8000-461: The direct command of the emperor, and would require their own recruitment systems. By the mid 4th century, the Roman military was divided into frontier armies under the command of the provincial duces and permanent field armies under the command of the emperor, the magistri peditum , magistri equitum , or comites . The frontier armies would patrol the borders and oppose small-scale raids. They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without

8125-551: The east and the west, or even in different regions of the west. In the east, the emperor Justinian cancelled their pay. After this, the eastern limitanei were no longer professional soldiers, but continued to exist as militia through the Persian Wars and the Arab Conquest. The Arabic ajnad of Palestine, Jordan, Damascus, and Homs, may represent continuations of the commands of Palaestina, Arabia, Phoeniciae, and Syria. In

8250-561: The elimination of the latter, the Praetorians opposed the new emperor Elagabalus , priest of the oriental cult of Elagabal, and replaced him by his 13-year-old cousin Severus Alexander in 222. In this period the position of Praetorian prefect in Italy came increasingly to resemble a general administrative post, and there was a tendency to appoint jurists such as Papinian , who occupied the post from 203 until his elimination and execution at

8375-454: The emperor. Perennis was killed by a delegation of 1,500 Lanciarii of the 3 legions of Britain which had come to complain about his interference in the affairs of the province. Cleander abused his influence to nominate and dismiss prefects. In 188, Cleander obtained the joint command of the Guard with the two prefects. He ordered a massacre of civilians carried out by the equites singulares Augusti , which led to an arranged battle with

8500-459: The empire or events that touched the imperial family: birthdays, births and marriages. Major monetary distributions or food subsidies renewed and compensated the fidelity of the Praetorians following each failed particular attempted plot (such as that of Messalina against Claudius in AD 48 or Piso against Nero in AD 65). The Praetorians received substantially higher pay than other Roman soldiers in any of

8625-437: The empire up to auction and Didius Julianus bought the title of emperor. However, the armies of the Danube chose instead the governor of Pannonia Superior , Septimius Severus , who besieged Rome and tricked the Praetorians when they came out unarmed. The Praetorian Guard was dissolved and replaced by men transferred from Septimius's army. The new Guard of Septimius Severus made their mark against his rival Clodius Albinus at

8750-503: The empire. This affected the discipline and morale of the late Roman army . A factor that should also be examined and considered, is how the limitanei ended up as part time forces and eventually even, not being paid at all. Traditionally, the quality of troops degrades as they spend less and less time as active soldiers, and soldiers that aren't being sent their wages, are obviously not being sent new equipment, or money to repair or replace broken equipment. The limitanei were nonetheless

8875-575: The end of Constantine's reign, in the face of numerous migrations and invasions from northern and eastern, nomadic peoples such as the Huns , Goths , Vandals , Ostrogoths , Sarmatians , Alans , Burgundians , Saxons and Franks , which continually weakened the Empire until its eventual collapse in 476 AD. The limitanei are in Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion as an infantry unit that can be recruited by any Roman faction. They are

9000-521: The exception of his second, the princeps castrorum . From the second century the Praetorian prefect oversaw not only the Praetorian Cohorts but also the rest of the garrison of Rome, including the Cohortes urbanae ("urban cohorts") and the equites singulares Augusti , but not the Vigiles cohorts . Following the dissolution of the Praetorian Cohorts by the emperor Constantine after he defeated them at

9125-462: The first Roman emperor (27 BC–AD 14), Octavian retained the Praetorians as his imperial bodyguard. In the longer campaigns of the Roman army of the late Republic , the personal bodyguard unit was the norm for a commander in the field. At camp, the cohors praetoria , a cohort of praetorians guarding the commander, was posted near the praetorium , the tent of the commander. The legionaries known as

9250-495: The first to limitanei was not until 363. Historians disagree on whether the emperor Diocletian , or one of his successors, such as Constantine I , split the Roman military into frontier armies and field armies. Theodor Mommsen , H.M.D. Parker , and more recently, Warren Treadgold and David S. Potter attribute the reorganization to Diocletian. E.C. Nischer , D. van Berchem , and more recently, M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston attribute mainly an expansion to Diocletian, and

9375-501: The fourth Emperor, leading the attack against the Praetorian camp. Under the Flavians, the Praetorians formed 9 new cohorts, of which Titus , son of emperor Vespasian, became the prefect. Vespasian returned the effective strength of each unit to five hundred men. He also cancelled the guard service of the Praetorians at the entry to the emperor's palace, but retained guards within the palace itself. Under Vespasian's second son, Domitian ,

9500-491: The frontier armies are often supposed to have been part-time farmer-soldiers without the same degree of training as the soldiers of the field armies; however, they were originally full-time soldiers. Although these military reforms brought about a more effective defensive army than the previous arrangement had, it did have its pitfalls. Constantine I was criticised for allowing what were perceived as "second-class" infantry, often recruited from non-Roman backgrounds, to be given

9625-469: The frontier armies not counting the river flotillas, 104,000 in the field armies not counting the fleets, and 3,500 in the palace guard. The western portion, from about 420, is harder to work with, because it has been unevenly edited, it omits some frontier provinces, and it includes British provinces which were probably lost to the Empire. The size of the army, and therefore of the limitanei , remains controversial. A.H.M. Jones and Warren Treadgold argue that

9750-411: The frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and to prevent small-scale raids. They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies. Edward Luttwak saw their role as a key part in a strategy of defence-in-depth in combination with the provincial field armies. In the early 3rd century, the Roman military was organized into several provincial armies under

9875-554: The guard took part in wars from Dacia to Mesopotamia , while with Marcus Aurelius, years were spent on the Danubian frontier during the Marcomannic Wars . Throughout the 3rd century, the Praetorians assisted the emperors in various campaigns. The Praetorian Guard influenced and intervened in the imperial succession to name the new Caesar , which was a political decision that the unarmed Senate accepted, ratified, and proclaimed to

10000-452: The influence of his Praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus , who exercised a beneficial influence on the new emperor during the first eight years of his reign (Burrus died in 62 AD). Officers of the Guard, including one of the two successors of Burrus as the Praetorian prefect, participated in Piso's conspiracy in year 65. The other Praetorian prefect, Tigellinus , headed the suppression of

10125-674: The last campaign of Trajan against the Parthians of 113–117. During the 2nd century, the Praetorian Guard accompanied Lucius Verus in the Oriental War Campaign of 161–166 AD , and accompanied Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in his northern campaigns between 169–175 and 178–180. Two prefects were killed during these expeditions. With the accession of Commodus , in 180, the Praetorian Guard returned to Rome. Tigidius Perennis (AD 182–185) and freedman Marcus Aurelius Cleander (AD 186–190) exercised considerable influence on

10250-537: The late Roman army was significantly larger than earlier Roman armies, and Treadgold estimates they had up to 645,000 troops. Karl Strobel denies this, and Strobel estimates that the late Roman army had some 435,000 troops in the time of Diocletian and 450,000 in the time of Constantine I. The limitanei were usually under the command of the duces of their respective provinces. There were some exceptions, with comites commanding units of limitanei , and with duces commanding units from two or more provinces. The units of

10375-426: The legions probably had about 1,000 troops and the other units probably had about 500 troops each. The different titles of numeri, milites, and cohorts, or vexillationes, equites, cunei, and alae, probably did not correspond with different structures or roles, although according to Pat Southern and Karen Dixon, the legiones , auxilia , and cunei of the border armies were part of the limitanei , but higher-status than

10500-436: The legions starting year 13 BC, then carried to, respectively, 16 to 20 years in year 5 BC according to Tacitus . Their pay was higher than that of a legionary. Under Nero , the pay of a Praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary, augmented by prime additions of donativum , granted by each new emperor. This additional pay was the equivalent of several years of pay and was often repeated at important events of

10625-519: The legions, on a system known as sesquiplex stipendum , or by pay-and-a-half. So if the legionaries received 250 denarii , the guards received 375 per annum. Domitian and Septimius Severus increased the stipendum (payment) to 1,500 denarii per year, distributed in January, May and September. Feared and dreaded by the population and by the Roman Senate , the Praetorians received no sympathy from

10750-541: The murder. At the death of Nerva , at the beginning of 98, the Guard supported Trajan , commander of the Army of the Rhine, as new emperor. He executed the remaining Praetorian prefect and his partisans. Trajan returned to Rome from the Rhine, probably accompanied by the new unit of equites singulares Augusti . The Praetorian Guard had participated in Trajan's two Dacian Wars (101–102 and 105–106). The Praetorian Guard served in

10875-470: The name of this battle . Records from al-Bidayah wal Nihayah state that Abdullah's troops were completely surrounded by Gregory's army. However, Abdullah ibn Zubayr spotted Gregory in his chariot and asked Abdullah ibn Sa'd to lead a small detachment to intercept him. The interception was successful, and Gregory was slain by Zubayr's ambush party. Consequently, the morale of Byzantine army crumbled and soon they were routed. Some Muslim sources claim that after

11000-781: The name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to the great Kisra of Persia. Peace be upon him, who seeks truth and expresses belief in God and in His Prophet and testifies that there are no gods but one God whom has no partners, and who believes that Muhammad is His servant and Prophet. Under the Command of God, I invite you to Him. He has sent me for the guidance of all people so that I may warn them all of His wrath and may present

11125-574: The nearest garrison fort. Fortified landing places are those on the opposite side of riverine borders. Both Diocletian and Constantine I reinforced the frontier fortifications. The fort of Deutz /Divitia, an important bridgehead on the east bank of the Rhine , was built in this period. Generally speaking there were more and smaller forts along the late Roman border than along the earlier Roman imperial borders. This has been interpreted as evidence that units were smaller than before, that units were divided among multiple forts, or both. The effectiveness of

11250-420: The new Caesar of Rome. To ensure the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard, Emperor Otho granted the Praetorians the right to appoint their own prefects. After defeating Otho, Vitellius disbanded the Praetorians and established a new Guard composed of sixteen cohorts . In his war against Vitellius, Vespasian relied upon the disgruntled cohorts dismissed by Emperor Vitellius, and, as Emperor Vespasian, he reduced

11375-580: The new caesar of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the cohortes praetoriae and destroyed their barracks at the Castra Praetoria . In the period of the Roman Republic (509–27 BC) the Praetorian Guard originated as bodyguards for Roman generals . The first historical record of the praetorians is as bodyguards for the Scipio family, ca. 275 BC. Generals with imperium (command authority of an army) also held public office, either as

11500-557: The number of cohorts was increased to 10, and the Praetorian Guard participated in fighting in Germania and on the Danube against the Dacians . It was in the course of these actions that the prefect Cornelius Fuscus was defeated and killed in 86. Following assassination of Domitian in 96 the Praetorians demanded the execution of their prefect, Titus Petronius Secundus , who had been implicated in

11625-481: The number of cohorts was increased to twelve from nine in AD 47. In AD 69 it was briefly increased to sixteen cohorts by Vitellius , but Vespasian quickly reduced it again to nine. In Rome, the guards' principal duty was to mount the Guard at the house of Augustus on the Palatine, where the centuries and the turmae of the cohort in service mounted the guard outside the emperor's palace (the interior guard of

11750-403: The older cohortes and alae in the same armies. Warren Treadgold estimates that 50.1% of the limitanei were infantry and 49.9% cavalry, not counting river flotillas. The role of the limitanei remains somewhat uncertain. Neither Vegetius , writing in the late 4th or early 5th century, nor Mauricius , writing in the late 6th century, discuss the limitanei in their military manuals. This

11875-513: The palace was mounted by the Imperial German Bodyguard , often also referred to as Batavi , and the Statores Augusti, a sort of military police which were found in the general staff headquarters of the Roman Army). Every afternoon, the tribunus cohortis would receive the password from the emperor personally. The command of this cohort was assumed directly by the emperor and not by

12000-411: The people of Rome. After the death of Sejanus , who was sacrificed for the donativum (imperial gift) promised by Tiberius, the Praetorians became exceptionally ambitious in their influence upon the politics of the Roman Empire. Either by volition or for a price, the Praetorian Guard would assassinate an emperor, bully the Praetorian prefects, or attack the Roman populace. In AD 41, conspirators from

12125-428: The political power of the nascent caliphate as well as the religious authority of Islam with the acclamation of rival ideologies, headed by political leaders who claimed the mantle of prophethood in the manner that Muhammad had done. These rebellions include: These leaders are all denounced in Islamic histories as "false prophets". The second form of opposition movement was more strictly political in character. Some of

12250-445: The population of Rome, while conserving Republican civilian traditions, the Praetorians did not wear their armor while in the heart of the city. Instead they often wore a formal toga, which distinguished them from civilians but remained in a respectable civilian attire, the mark of a Roman citizen. Augustus, conscious of risking the only military force present in the city, often avoided concentrating them and imposed this dress code. From

12375-411: The princes, kings, and chiefs of the various tribes and kingdoms of the time, exhorting them to convert to Islam and bow to the order of God. These letters were carried by ambassadors to Persia , Byzantium , Ethiopia , Egypt , Yemen , and Hira (Iraq) on the same day. This assertion has been brought under scrutiny by some modern historians of Islam—notably Grimme and Caetani. Particularly in dispute

12500-736: The reign of Tiberius, their camp was situated on the Quirinal Hill, outside Rome. In 26 AD, Sejanus , Praetorian prefect, and the favorite of emperor Tiberius , united the Urban Cohorts with nine Praetorian Cohorts, dispersed at that time throughout Italy, in one large camp situated beyond the Servian Wall , on the Esquiline Hill, the Castra Praetoria . For the 2nd century, calculations from lists of significant demobilisations suggest an increase in size to nearly 1,500 men per cohort (perhaps

12625-534: The reign of Umar. In 644, prior to the complete annexation of Persia by the Arab Muslims, Umar was assassinated by Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz , a Persian craftsman who was captured in battle and brought to Arabia as a slave. Uthman ibn Affan , the third caliph , was chosen by a committee in Medina , in northwestern Arabia , inAH 23 (643/644). The second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab , was stabbed by Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz ,

12750-403: The reorganization to Constantine I and his successors. Karl Strobel sees the reorganization as the culmination of trends going back well into the 3rd century, with Diocletian strengthening both the frontier and field armies. The division of the Roman Empire, the collapse of its western portion, and the formation of the successor states means that the limitanei may have developed differently in

12875-451: The responsibility of governing the Empire. Sejanus, however, alienated Drusus, son of Tiberius, and when Germanicus, the heir to the throne, died in AD 19 he was worried that Drusus would become the new emperor. Accordingly, he poisoned Drusus with the help of the latter's wife, and immediately launched a ruthless elimination program against all competitors, persuading Tiberius to make him his heir apparent. He almost succeeded, but his plot

13000-495: The responsibility of watching over Rome's most troublesome regions. The elite comitatenses and Scholae Palatinae (the personal bodyguards of the late Roman Emperors such as Constantine I ) resented being reduced to trivial home guard duties and acting more similarly to an urban police force until such a time that a serious enough threat presented itself at a nearby border, when they were called upon for duty. They are historically significant in that their appearance, as part of

13125-804: The revolts of this type took the form of tax rebellions in Najd among tribes such as the Banu Fazara and Banu Tamim . Other dissenters, while initially allied with the Muslims, used Muhammad's death as an opportunity to attempt to restrict the growth of the new Islamic state. They include some of the Rabīʿa in Bahrayn , the Azd in Oman , as well as among the Kinda and Khawlan in Yemen . At their heart,

13250-434: The same area, they tended to maintain better relations with the locals than the comitatenses and palatini , who would often be transferred to other areas, and were often quartered in civilian homes. They were light troops and served as a policing force to patrol Rome's distant, far-flung border regions and when necessary, to delay advancing enemy forces until counter-attacks could be arranged. They worked in conjunction with

13375-514: The senatorial class and from the Guard killed Emperor Caligula , his wife, and their daughter. Afterwards, the Praetorians installed Caligula's uncle Claudius upon the imperial throne of Rome, and challenged the Senate to oppose the Praetorian decision. In AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors , after assassinating the Emperor Galba , because he did not offer them a donatium , the Praetorians gave their allegiance to Otho , whom they named as

13500-418: The senior officers of the Roman legions . In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus , designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by whose influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as

13625-399: The support of the field armies. The frontier armies would later be known as limitanei or ripenses . The field armies would respond to larger-scale attacks, would fight against rival emperors, and would conduct any large-scale attacks into neighboring countries. The field armies would later be known as comitatenses or palatini . The first known written reference to ripenses was in 325 and

13750-454: The system of limitanei (frontier-colonist-soldier) for economic reasons. By employing soldiers in this way, Rome was able to capitalize on their knowledge of warfare as well benefit from the agriculture produced by limitanei . Edward Luttwak, however, sees the change as due a strategic shift away from a firmly held frontier ( preclusive defence ) to a less firmly held frontier zone backed with mobile forces ( defence-in-depth ) as responsible for

13875-541: The tenure of Umar. Muawiyah I had been appointed the governor of Syria by Umar in 639 to stop Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab-Byzantine Wars . He succeeded his elder brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan , who died in a plague, along with Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah . Now under Uthman's rule in 649, Muawiyah was allowed to establish a navy, manned by Monophysitic Christians , Copts , and Jacobite Syrian Christian sailors and Muslim troops, which defeated

14000-459: The transfer of Khalid to the Byzantine front in the Levant , the Muslims eventually lost their holdings to Sassanid counterattacks. The second Muslim invasion began in 636, under Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas , when a key victory at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah led to the permanent end of Sassanid control west of modern-day Iran . For the next six years, the Zagros Mountains , a natural barrier, marked

14125-470: The unbelievers with an ultimatum. Embrace Islam so that you may remain safe. And if you refuse to accept Islam, you will be responsible for the sins of the Magi. There are differing accounts of the reaction of Khosrau II . By span from the ascensions of Abu Bakar as caliph until his death, the Rashidun Caliphate expanded steadily; within the span of 24 years, a vast territory was conquered comprising Mesopotamia,

14250-587: The west, the collapse of the empire cut off regular pay. Peter Heather notes an incident in the Life of St. Severinus , in Noricum in the 460s, where raiders had intercepted and cut down limitanei who were bringing their pay to the rest of their unit. The limitanei represented the largest part of the late Roman Army. The eastern portion of the Notitia Dignitatum , from about 395, may count some 195,500 personnel in

14375-408: The year 23 BC, there were nine Praetorian cohorts (4,500 men, the equivalent of a legion) to maintain peace in Italy; three were stationed in Rome, and the others nearby. According to Boris Rankov in 1994, an inscription recently discovered suggested that, towards the end of the reign of Augustus , the number of cohorts increased to 12 during a brief period. This inscription referred to one man who

14500-399: Was among the first prefects to exploit his position to pursue his own ambitions. He concentrated under his command all the Praetorian cohorts in the new camp. Sejanus held the title of prefect jointly with his father, under Augustus, but became sole prefect in AD 15, and used the position to render himself essential to the new emperor Tiberius, who was unable to persuade the Senate to share

14625-453: Was dead. Abu Bakr, having returned to Medina, calmed Umar by showing him Muhammad's body, convincing him of his death. He then addressed those who had gathered at the mosque, saying, "If anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. If anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal", thus putting an end to any idolising impulse in the population. He then concluded with a verse from the Quran : "Muhammad

14750-450: Was discovered and revealed in AD 31, and Tiberius had him killed by the Cohortes urbanae , who were not under Sejanus's control. In AD 37 Caligula became emperor with the support of Naevius Sutorius Macro , Sejanus' successor as prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Under Caligula, whose reign lasted until AD 41, the overall strength of the Guard increased from 9 to 12 Praetorian cohorts. In year 41, disgust and hostility of

14875-507: Was dismantled in a grand gesture, inaugurating a new age in Roman history and ending that of the Praetorians. While campaigning, the Praetorians were the equal of any formation in the Roman army. On the death of Augustus in 14 AD, his successor, Tiberius, was faced with mutinies among both the Rhine and Pannonian legions. According to Tacitus , the Pannonian forces were dealt with by Tiberius' son Drusus , accompanied by two Praetorian cohorts,

15000-528: Was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate 's armed forces during the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The army is reported to have maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, granting them successive victories in their various campaigns. In its time, the Rashidun army was a very powerful and effective force. The three most successful generals of the army were Khalid ibn al-Walid , who conquered Persian Mesopotamia and

15125-519: Was the first occasion when troops were permanently garrisoned in Rome proper. In the Orient, Antony commanded three cohorts; in 32 BC, Antony issued coins honouring his Praetorian Guard. According to the historian Orosius , Octavian commanded five cohorts at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC; in the aftermath of Roman civil war, the victorious Octavian then merged his forces with the forces of Antony as symbolic of their political reunification. Later, as Augustus,

15250-491: Was the political and economic centre of the Sassanid state. Abu Bakr was aware of Umar's power and ability to succeed him. His was perhaps one of the smoothest transitions of power from one authority to another in the Muslim lands. Before his death, Abu Bakr called Uthman to write his will in which he declared Umar his successor. In his will he instructed Umar to continue the conquests on the Iraqi and Syrian fronts. Following

15375-509: Was the tribune of two successive cohorts: the eleventh cohort, apparently at the end of the reign of Augustus, and the fourth at the beginning of the reign of Tiberius . According to Tacitus, there were only nine cohorts in 23 AD. The three urban cohorts, which were numbered consecutively after the Praetorian cohorts, were removed near the end of the reign of Augustus; it seemed probable that the last three Praetorian cohorts were simply renamed as urban cohorts . The Praetorians first intervened on

15500-616: Was usually assumed that over time the limitanei settled down more permanently in their posts and became farmers and land owners as well as soldiers; raising families and earning a living from agricultural means rather than purely military service. It is now more generally assumed that there is no good evidence for this. The current consensus seems to be that the limitanei were organized as units of professional soldiers, but they gradually became part-time soldiers and eventually an unpaid militia , relying on other professions including farming for income. Why this new class of soldiers developed

15625-476: Was very different from what it became later, as a vital force in the power politics of Rome. While Augustus understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime. Thus, he allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, each originally consisting of 500 men. He then increased them to 1,000 men each, allowing three units to be on duty at any given time in

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