In the Late Roman Empire , usually dated 284 AD to 641 AD, the regional governance district known as the Roman or civil diocese was made up of a grouping of provinces each headed by a Vicarius , who were the representatives of praetorian prefects (who governed directly the dioceses they were resident in). There were initially twelve dioceses, rising to fourteen by the end of the 4th century.
154-587: The term diocese comes from the Latin : dioecēsis , which derives from the Ancient Greek : dioíkēsis ( διοίκησις ) meaning "administration", "management", "assize district", or "group of provinces". Two major reforms to the administrative divisions of the empire were undertaken during the Tetrarchy . The first of these was the multiplication of the number of provinces , which had remained largely unchanged since
308-473: A comes rei militaris , who was directly under the control of the magister militum and was in charge of the duces who had the military command of individual provinces. Many modern scholars date the introduction of the dioceses to AD 296–297. A passage of Lactantius , who was hostile to Diocletian because of his persecution of the Christians , seems to indicate the existence of vicarii praefectorum in
462-503: 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
616-615: A strategos with military and civilian authority) and the invasions of the Arabs and Slavs, the Praetorian Prefectures of the East and of Illyricum disappeared. The last certain attestation of a Praetorian Prefect of the East is in 629, while Illyricum survived to the end of the 7th century, but without any effective power since the majority of the Balkans, aside from Thessaloniki , had fallen under
770-516: 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
924-526: A faster pace. It is characterised by greater use of prepositions, and word order that is closer to modern Romance languages, for example, while grammatically retaining more or less the same formal rules as Classical Latin. Ultimately, Latin diverged into a distinct written form, where the commonly spoken form was perceived as a separate language, for instance early French or Italian dialects, that could be transcribed differently. It took some time for these to be viewed as wholly different from Latin however. After
1078-718: A few in German , Dutch , Norwegian , Danish and Swedish . Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church . The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology . They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics . Their works were published in manuscript form before
1232-404: A few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus, Salutati , Celtis , George Buchanan and Thomas More . Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples include Isaac Newton 's Principia . Latin was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in
1386-594: 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
1540-548: A native language, Medieval Latin was used across Western and Catholic Europe during the Middle Ages as a working and literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance , which then developed a classicizing form, called Renaissance Latin . This was the basis for Neo-Latin which evolved during the early modern period . In these periods Latin was used productively and generally taught to be written and spoken, at least until
1694-570: A process of trial-and-error, was the 'regionalisation' of the Praetorian prefecture . Hitherto, one or two Praetorian prefects had served as chief minister for the whole empire, with military, judicial, and fiscal responsibilities. The political centralisation under Constantine, which culminated in the reunification of the whole empire under his rule, resulted in an "administrative decentralisation." A single emperor could not control everything, so between 326 and 337, Constantine progressively transformed
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#17328487101151848-551: A result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names. In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to the styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from late antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars. The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, also called Archaic or Early Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom , traditionally founded in 753 BC, through
2002-407: A separate language, existing more or less in parallel with the literary or educated Latin, but this is now widely dismissed. The term 'Vulgar Latin' remains difficult to define, referring both to informal speech at any time within the history of Latin, and the kind of informal Latin that had begun to move away from the written language significantly in the post-Imperial period, that led ultimately to
2156-695: A small number of Latin services held in the Anglican church. These include an annual service in Oxford, delivered with a Latin sermon; a relic from the period when Latin was the normal spoken language of the university. In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture . Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross
2310-429: A sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech. Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus , which contain fragments of everyday speech, gives evidence of an informal register of the language, Vulgar Latin (termed sermo vulgi , "the speech of the masses", by Cicero ). Some linguists, particularly in the nineteenth century, believed this to be
2464-565: A spoken and written language by the scholarship by the Renaissance humanists . Petrarch and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of authors' works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite
2618-432: A strictly left-to-right script. During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, from about 75 BC to AD 200, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature , which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools , which served as
2772-493: 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 was the first occasion when troops were permanently garrisoned in Rome proper. In
2926-689: A vernacular, such as those of Descartes . Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language ) and later native or other languages. Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than
3080-570: A well-defined and stable territory. Septimius Valentio in particular was definitely the commander of the Praetorian Guard during a period when the Praetorian Prefect was absent from the city, but was not in charge of Italia Suburbicaria . According to Zuckerman, the establishment of the dioceses should instead be dated to around AD 313/14, after the annexation of Armenia into the Roman empire and
3234-411: Is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue. Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages . For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH , which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica ,
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#17328487101153388-857: Is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages . Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio ), the lower Tiber area around Rome , Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire . By the late Roman Republic , Old Latin had evolved into standardized Classical Latin . Vulgar Latin refers to
3542-626: Is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend , this phrase was inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules , the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. In
3696-477: Is considered by some scholars to have been the first vicar of the Diocese of the East that we know of. Lactantius also mentions one Sossianus Hierocles as an ex vicario active in the East in this period. Septimius Valentio is also attested as agens vices praefectorum praetorio of Rome between 293 and 296. However, these sources do not prove that these vicarii or agentes vices were already in charge of dioceses with
3850-548: Is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously. The spoken Latin that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from
4004-661: Is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore . Spain's motto Plus ultra , meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin. It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and
4158-958: Is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico , the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium . Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it
4312-531: The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy . About 270,000 inscriptions are known. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In
4466-522: 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 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
4620-532: 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
4774-665: 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
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4928-530: 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 a magistrate or as a promagistrate ; each was provided with lictors to protect
5082-678: The Gothic War . The whole territory of the Empire in Africa, which had been the Diocese of Africa in the 4th and 5th centuries, was thus promoted to the rank of Prefecture. It was not divided into dioceses. It is unlikely that the Praetorian Prefecture of Italia was subdivided into two vicariates again in the Byzantine period. The authority of the two Italian vicars was definitely much reduced compared to
5236-562: The Holy See , the primary language of its public journal , the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , and the working language of the Roman Rota . Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin. In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language. There are
5390-449: 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
5544-751: The Long Walls was created in Thrace by Anastasius I (491-518). Around the end of the 5th century, the majority of the dioceses of the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist, following the establishment of the Barbarian kingdoms . There is no evidence that the Franks and Burgundians maintained the Roman provincial system; the Visigoths and Vandals did maintain the provinces (governed by rectores or iudices ), but not
5698-561: The Middle Ages , borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest , through the Anglo-Norman language . From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed " inkhorn terms ", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by
5852-468: The Praetorian Prefect of Gaul . In fact, according to Jones, the diocese in which each Praetorian Prefect was based was generally under their direct control, except for the Diocese of Thrace , which was administered by a vicarius Thraciarum even though the Praetorian Prefect of the East had his seat in the diocese. The title of vicar was used in all provinces except for the Diocese of the East, which
6006-533: 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
6160-454: 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 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,
6314-559: The Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at the Vatican City . The church continues to adapt concepts from modern languages to Ecclesiastical Latin of the Latin language. Contemporary Latin is more often studied to be read rather than spoken or actively used. Latin has greatly influenced the English language , along with a large number of others, and historically contributed many words to
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6468-553: The Romance languages . During the Classical period, informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors, inscriptions such as Curse tablets and those found as graffiti . In the Late Latin period, language changes reflecting spoken (non-classical) norms tend to be found in greater quantities in texts. As it
6622-481: 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
6776-560: The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses. While the written form of Latin was increasingly standardized into a fixed form, the spoken forms began to diverge more greatly. Currently, the five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are Spanish , Portuguese , French , Italian , and Romanian . Despite dialectal variation, which
6930-460: 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
7084-525: The vicarius Italiae respectively. Italia Suburbicaria and Italia Annonaria were not de jure dioceses, but vicariates within a single Italian diocese, as the Laterculus Veronensis and the Notitia Dignitatum show. Constantine I also divided the diocese of Moesia into the dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia in 327. Under Emperor Valens (364-378), the Diocese of Egypt was split out of
7238-456: The 'ministerial' Praetorian Prefect into a 'regional' Prefect, in charge of a specific territory which contained several dioceses and was called a 'Praetorian Prefecture' ( praefectura praetorio ). These Praetorian Prefects had authority over the Vicars and Provincial Governors. Paul Petit argues that the dioceses "themselves prefigured to some degree" the regional praetorian prefectures. Thus,
7392-462: The 5th century. The successors of Justinian continued his policy of concentrating civilian and military power in the hands of a single individual. Maurice (582-602) transformed the old Prefectures of Italia and Africa into Exarchates governed by an Exarch , who held both civilian and military authority. The vicars and other civilian officials seem to have lost most of their importance to the exarchs and their subordinates, but did not disappear until
7546-617: The British Crown. The motto is featured on all presently minted coinage and has been featured in most coinage throughout the nation's history. Several states of the United States have Latin mottos , such as: Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as: Some law governing bodies in the Philippines have Latin mottos, such as: Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University 's motto
7700-417: The City when the Praetorian Prefect was absent since the Severan period , into the civil vicar of Italia Suburbicaria , as part of his demilitarisation of the city after his victory over Maxentius . Thus, under Constantine, the diocese of Italia was split into the two vicariates of Italia Suburbicaria in the south and Italia Annonaria in the north, under the administration of the vicarius urbis Romae and
7854-440: The Diocese of the East. The Notitia Dignitatum indicates that at some point, the Diocese of Gaul was suppressed and incorporated into the diocese of the Septem Provinciae . According to the Notitia Dignitatum , the dioceses of Dacia and Illyricum did not have vicars, but were governed by the Praetorian Prefect of Illyricum directly. Before its suppression, the Diocese of Gaul also seems to have been directly administered by
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#17328487101158008-486: The English lexicon , particularly after the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest . Latin and Ancient Greek roots are heavily used in English vocabulary in theology , the sciences , medicine , and law . A number of phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As
8162-444: The Gauls, which was promoted to the rank of Prefecture with a capital at Arelate two years later. This Praetorian Prefecture was abolished in 536, during the reign of Vitiges , after the cession of Provence to the Franks. The rationale behind Odoacer and Theoderic's maintenance of the Roman provincial system was that they were officially viceroys of the Roman emperor in Constantinople, for whom Italia nominally continued to form part of
8316-416: The Grinch Stole Christmas! , The Cat in the Hat , and a book of fairy tales, " fabulae mirabiles ", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook . Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series,
8470-480: 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
8624-445: 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, the first Roman emperor (27 BC–AD 14), Octavian retained
8778-404: 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,
8932-419: 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 the Praetorian Guard to proclaim him emperor. Despite the opposition of the cohorts in service in the palace, Galba and his designated successor,
9086-442: 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,
9240-408: 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
9394-446: The Praetorian Prefects) or simply Vicar ( vicarius ), under the Praetorian prefect , although some provinces were governed directly by the Praetorian Prefect. These vicars had previously been ad hoc representatives of the prefects, but they were now made into permanent, regularised positions. The vicar controlled the provincial governors (variously titled as consulares , correctores , praesides ) and heard appeals of cases decided at
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#17328487101159548-411: The Praetorian Prefecture of the East continued to exist even though it had lost most of its earlier powers and had only a few judicial functions. If the dioceses lost their fiscal functions during the 6th and 7th centuries, it may be that they were replaced by new groupings of provinces under the judicial administration of a Proconsul ( anthypatos ). The provinces continued to exist under the themes until
9702-403: 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 ,
9856-419: 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,
10010-409: 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 the responsibility of governing the Empire. Sejanus, however, alienated Drusus, son of Tiberius, and when Germanicus, the heir to
10164-400: 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 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
10318-416: 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 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
10472-540: The Praetorian prefect of the East. The Prefect of Egypt, formerly in charge of the whole diocese, was renamed the dux augustalis , and left with control over only the provinces of Aegyptus I and Aegyptus II. Essentially, the modifications to the provincial system carried out by Justinian were motivated by the desire to end the conflict between civilian and military officials, and thus moved away from Diocletian's principle of completely separating civilian and military power. In this, according to J. B. Bury , Justinian anticipated
10626-414: 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 the Praetorian Guard were first hand-picked veterans of
10780-431: 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
10934-435: 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 the Imperial German Bodyguard which provided close personal protection for
11088-403: The Roman empire. The civilian offices, including the vicars, praesides , and Praetorian Prefects, continued to be filled with Roman citizens, while Barbarians without citizenship were barred from holding them. According to Cassiodorus , however, the authority of the vicarius urbis Romae was diminished: in the 4th century, he no longer controlled the ten provinces of Italia Suburbicaria, but only
11242-587: The Slavs. Thus the Prefect of Illyricum was renamed the Praetorian Prefect of Thessaloniki. In the same period, the dioceses of Dacia and Macedonia finally disappeared as a result of the loss of almost all their territory. However, the Taktikon Uspenskij which was written at the beginning of the 9th century, mentions a Praetorian Prefect of Constantinople and Proconsuls ( anthypatoi ) of the themes, which suggests that
11396-569: The Treasury and Crown Estate officials but could not meddle in their routine business. The offices of the three regional ministries were located in the same towns or cities: this facilitated the work of the diocesan staffs which was to audit and process the huge amounts of fiscal and judicial work from the provincial level before being sent to the prefectures. He was tasked with regulating and controlling governors; exacting compliance from any officials he had partial or whole authority over in cooperation with
11550-461: The United States the unofficial national motto until 1956 was E pluribus unum meaning "Out of many, one". The motto continues to be featured on the Great Seal . It also appears on the flags and seals of both houses of congress and the flags of the states of Michigan, North Dakota, New York, and Wisconsin. The motto's 13 letters symbolically represent the original Thirteen Colonies which revolted from
11704-552: The University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University. There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Misplaced Pages has more than 130,000 articles. Italian , French , Portuguese , Spanish , Romanian , Catalan , Romansh , Sardinian and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian , as well as
11858-533: 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
12012-480: The author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French . Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies. Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard ( Latin : cohortes praetoriae )
12166-468: The authority of the Comes Orientis in this period. Furthermore, it seems from the fact that a Vicar of Thrace is again attested in 576, it also seems that the diocese of Thrace was revived at some point - perhaps even under Justinian. When Africa and Italia were reconquered, Justinian established Praetorian prefecture of Africa , while the Praetorian Prefecture of Italia returned to Imperial hands after
12320-517: 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 ,
12474-425: The benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics . The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin. Parts of Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana are written in Latin. Enya has recorded several tracks with Latin lyrics. The continued instruction of Latin is seen by some as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin
12628-409: The careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. Neo-Latin literature was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name
12782-439: 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
12936-415: The classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together as Neo-Latin , or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus of renewed study , given their importance for the development of European culture, religion and science. The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as
13090-450: The collection of taxes, intervened in military affairs in order to fortify the borders, and judged appeals. They were not under the control of the Praetorian Prefect, but only to the Emperor himself. Appeals of their legal decisions went straight to the emperor. In as much as they were responsible for the integrity of the global diocesan budgets drawn up by the prefectures, they were in 328-329 AD given oversight powers and appeal authority over
13244-461: The country's full Latin name. Some film and television in ancient settings, such as Sebastiane , The Passion of the Christ and Barbarians (2020 TV series) , have been made with dialogue in Latin. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost (" Jughead "). Subtitles are usually shown for
13398-466: The creation of the praetorian prefectures reduced the utility of the dioceses. The direct link between the prefects and the governors bypassed the Vicars and caused their power to decline; they increasingly became agents carrying out the will of the Praetorian Prefects. However, despite their decreased importance, the vicars played an important role in the court hierarchy - Constantine raised them to
13552-507: The damage from these taxes was unbearable. Thus Lactantius refers to the vicarii praefectorum as being active already in Diocletian's time. Other sources from Diocletian's reign mention one Aurelius Agricolanus who was an agens vices praefectorum praetorio active in Hispania and condemned a centurion named Marcellus to be executed for his Christianity, as well as an Aemilianus Rusticianus, who
13706-493: The decline in written Latin output. Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world. The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church . The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965 , which permitted the use of the vernacular . Latin remains
13860-458: The dioceses or prefectures. In Italia, Odoacer and then the Ostrogothic kings, particularly Theoderic , basically retained the Roman provincial system, including the Praetorian Prefecture of Italia and the two vicariates of Italia Annonaria and Italia Suburbicaria, as well as the various provinces that they contained. When Theoderic conquered Provence in 508, he also re-established a Diocese of
14014-514: 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 the legions starting year 13 BC, then carried to, respectively, 16 to 20 years in year 5 BC according to Tacitus . Their pay
14168-570: The educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, Medieval Latin
14322-751: The efficiency of provisioning troops garrisoned in Thrace, a new prefecture was introduced, the Prefecture of the Islands , which was governed by a quaestor exercitus (Quaestor of the army) based in Odessa . This prefecture contained the provinces of Moesia II , Scythia Minor, Insulae (the Cyclades ), Caria , and Cyprus . In 539, Justinian also abolished the diocese of Egypt, splitting it into five independent circumscriptions (groups of provinces) governed by duces with civilian and military authority, who were direct subordinates of
14476-561: 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
14630-520: 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 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
14784-586: 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 a curtain. Needing an emperor to justify their own existence, they brought him forth to the Praetorian camp and proclaimed him emperor,
14938-454: 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
15092-437: 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
15246-436: 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 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
15400-582: 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
15554-509: 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 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
15708-495: 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 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
15862-449: 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 the new caesar of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the cohortes praetoriae and destroyed their barracks at
16016-415: 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 the influence of his Praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus , who exercised a beneficial influence on the new emperor during
16170-488: 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 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
16324-554: 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
16478-508: 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 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
16632-512: The introduction of the themes in the 7th century. Morevoer, by abolishing the dioceses, Justinian attempted to simplify the bureaucracy and simultaneously decrease the state's expenses, noting that the vicars had become superfluous, since their courts of appeal were used ever less frequently and the provincial governors could be directly controlled by the Praetorian Prefect, by means of the so-called tractatores . Some of Justinian's decisions were subsequently revisited. In fact, thirteen years after
16786-679: The invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library , published by Harvard University Press , or the Oxford Classical Texts , published by Oxford University Press . Latin translations of modern literature such as: The Hobbit , Treasure Island , Robinson Crusoe , Paddington Bear , Winnie the Pooh , The Adventures of Tintin , Asterix , Harry Potter , Le Petit Prince , Max and Moritz , How
16940-416: The jurisdiction of a biocolytes (preventor of violence), in order to maintain order in the region. The jurisdiction of this official was reduced to just Lycaonia and Lydia in 553, since the other three provinces had been pacified. Novel 157 of AD 542, concerning Osroene and Mesopotamia is addressed to the Comes Orientis , suggesting that the northern part of the former diocese of the East remained under
17094-549: The land within forty miles of the City of Rome. In 535–536, Justinian decided to abolish the dioceses of the East , Asia , and Pontus ; their vicars were demoted to simple provincial governors. For example, the comes Orientis (count of the East) became the title of the governor of Syria I , while the vicars of Asia and Pontus became governors of Phrygia Pacatiana and Galatia I respectively, with
17248-675: The language of the Roman Rite . The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of
17402-440: The large areas where it had come to be natively spoken. However, even after the fall of Western Rome , Latin remained the common language of international communication , science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the early 19th century, by which time modern languages had supplanted it in common academic and political usage. Late Latin is the literary language from the 3rd century AD onward. No longer spoken as
17556-674: 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
17710-462: The late seventeenth century, when spoken skills began to erode. It then became increasingly taught only to be read. Latin grammar is highly fusional , with classes of inflections for case , number , person , gender , tense , mood , voice , and aspect . The Latin alphabet is directly derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets . Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and
17864-431: The later part of the Roman Republic , up to 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin . It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence . The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet . The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon script to what ultimately became
18018-421: The less prestigious colloquial registers , attested in inscriptions and some literary works such as those of the comic playwrights Plautus and Terence and the author Petronius . While often called a "dead language", Latin did not undergo language death . By the 6th to 9th centuries, natural language change eventually resulted in Latin as a vernacular language evolving into distinct Romance languages in
18172-638: The meeting of Constantine and Licinius in Mediolanum . The matter remains controversial. From 310, Constantine I was one of the Augusti of the Empire and from 324 he was the sole ruler of the whole state. During his reign, he carried out many crucial reforms creating the administrative and military organization of the empire which would last until the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The principal territorial reform undertaken by Constantine, as part of
18326-593: The middle of the 7th century AD. After 557, there is no record of vicarii in Italia, but two agentes vices of the Praetorian Prefect of Italia with their seats in Genova and Rome are mentioned in Pope Gregory I 's letters. These Italian agentes vices are no longer attested after the first half of the seventh century. In the seventh century, as a result of the establishment of the first themes (military districts governed by
18480-589: 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
18634-420: 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
18788-557: 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
18942-413: The other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire. Spoken Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing. For many Italians using Latin, though, there
19096-552: 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 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,
19250-411: 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
19404-519: 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 the Siege of Numantia (134–133 BC), General Scipio Aemilianus safeguarded himself with
19558-445: 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
19712-630: The provinces and the change over to the great bulk of tax collection in gold simplified the amount of paperwork and transport needs. The vicars had no real military role and had no troops under their command, which was a significant novelty compared to the Augustan provincial system. The intent was to separate military and civilian power and thus prevent rebellions, civil wars and make the military subject to civilian command. Latin language Latin ( lingua Latina , pronounced [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna] , or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃] )
19866-400: The provincial level (parties could decide whether to appeal to the vicar or the praetorian prefect). The provinces governed by proconsuls ( Africa and Asia ) remained outside the vicars' jurisdiction,. as did the cities of Rome and Constantinople, which were governed by a Praefectus urbi instead. The vicars had no military powers. Troops stationed in the dioceses fell under the command of
20020-408: The rank of clarissimi (between the consulares and the proconsulares ). The other reason for the weakening of the vicars was the regular dispatch of comites , who outranked the vicars and probably had the role of inspecting their conduct. It was probably Constantine in 312 who transformed the agens vices prefectorum praetorio of Rome, which had been the commander of the troops stationed in
20174-420: The reforms of 535, in 548, Justinian decided to re-establish the diocese of Pontus due to serious internal problems. The vicar of Pontus was also given military powers, in order to effectively oppose the brigands that infested the region. In the same period, five provinces of the former diocese of Asia which had become infested with brigands ( Lycaonia , Pisidia , Lydia , and the two Phrygiae ), were placed under
20328-477: The regional officials of the respective jurisdictions; processing huge amounts of judicial and fiscal information before being sent up prefecture. The additional authority truly made vicars mini-prefects. The position went into decline from the first decades of the 5th century as the emperors switches back to the two tier prefect-governor arrangement rather than the 3 level with the diocese as regional level as fiscal officials for central headquarters became stationed in
20482-736: 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
20636-432: The same time, the status of the provinces was regularized. Egypt lost its unique status and was divided into three provinces, while Italia was 'provincialized' - the numbered regiones established by Augustus received names and were governed by correctores . The distinction between senatorial and imperial provinces was abolished and henceforth all governors were appointed by the Emperor. In order to compensate for
20790-466: The second half of the 9th century. The vicarius was a high official appointed by the Emperor and accountable only to him. The position was held by equites who were given the rank of perfectissimus (before the egregii and after the eminentissimi ). Thus, in rank, the vicars were inferior to the governors of the senatorial provinces (the consulares ), although they had to exercise political authority over them. René Rémond suggests that this paradox
20944-616: 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
21098-404: 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 a praetorian tribune, named Cassius Chaerea – whom Caligula teased without mercy due to his squeaky voice – led to the assassination of
21252-507: 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 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
21406-407: The time of Augustus , from 48 at the beginning of Diocletian 's reign to around a hundred by the time of his abdication. The multiplication of the provinces was probably undertaken for military, financial, and economic reasons. It brought the governor closer to the cities which were responsible for the collection of taxes. It also limited the power of the governors and the autonomy of the cities. At
21560-456: The time of Diocletian: And so that everything would be filled with terror, the provinces were also sliced to bits; many governors and more offices brooded over individual regions and almost every city, as well as many rationales , magistri , and vicarii praefectorum , all of whose civil acts were exceedingly rare, but whose condemnations and proscriptions were common, whose exactions of innumerable taxes were not so much frequent as constant, and
21714-460: The title of Comes Iustinianus and civilian and military powers. In May 535, Justinian abolished the vicariates of Thrace and the Long Walls, in order to improve the defence of the Long Walls by ending the continuous conflicts between the two vicars. He entrusted the administration of the diocese of Thrace to a praetor Iustinianus with civilian and military powers. A year later, in order to improve
21868-479: The weakening of the provinces and to maintain the link between the Imperial centre and the individual provinces, the dioceses were created as a new territorial subdivision above the level of the province. The empire was divided into twelve dioceses. The largest of these, the Diocese of the East , encompassed sixteen provinces . Each diocese was governed by an agens vices praefectorum praetorio (Acting Representatives of
22022-401: 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 , the fourth Emperor, leading the attack against
22176-585: 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, the Praetorian Cavalry, and Imperial German Bodyguards . The mutiny in Germania
22330-507: 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,
22484-413: Was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, Romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages . Late Latin is a kind of written Latin used in the 3rd to 6th centuries. This began to diverge from Classical forms at
22638-443: Was governed by a comes Orientis and Egypt, which continued to be governed by a Prefect . The successors of Theodosius I made few changes to the administrative subdivisions of the Empire. A few provinces were further subdivided. For example, the provinces of Epirus , Galatia , Palestina , and Thebais were split in two. At the beginning of the 6th century, the province of Aegyptus was also split in two. A separate Vicariate of
22792-469: 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 the empire or events that touched the imperial family: birthdays, births and marriages. Major monetary distributions or food subsidies renewed and compensated
22946-496: Was much more liberal in its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead. Furthermore, the meanings of many words were changed and new words were introduced, often under influence from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail. Renaissance Latin, 1300 to 1500, and
23100-441: Was no complete separation between Italian and Latin, even into the beginning of the Renaissance . Petrarch for example saw Latin as a literary version of the spoken language. Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the post-classical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed, that is from around 700 to 1500 AD. The spoken language had developed into the various Romance languages; however, in
23254-513: 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 was among the first prefects to exploit his position to pursue his own ambitions. He concentrated under his command all
23408-415: Was resolved by promoting vicars whose dioceses contained provinces with senatorial governors to the rank of clarissimus , but there is no evidence for this. Constantine the Great raised them to the senatorial rank of clarissimus in 324-325. Initially, the powers of the vicars were considerable: they controlled and monitored the governors (aside from the proconsuls who governed Asia and Africa), administered
23562-478: Was shut down in June 2019), and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin. A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin. Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include
23716-577: 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 the senior officers of the Roman legions . In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire,
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