Imperial guard

It had been common for Roman magistrates on campaign to pick a unit as their Headquarters- and personal guard. Scipio had had one during the Second Punic War, while Caesar had his Legio X mounted to serve as mobile bodyguard. As emperor, Augustus continued this tradition and established the Praetorian Guard, originally consisting of nine cohorts of Italian citizens. With better pay and service in Rome it became a very attractive unit to serve in. Moreover, since they served in close-proximity to the emperor, they had better chances for extraordinary payments and advancement after completion of their service. The establishment of the Praetorian Guard initially was a problem for the emperor: ancient rules said that no armed troops could be in Rome and, even more importantly, with an armed bodyguard following him through the streets of Rome, intimidating the citizens, Augustus would instantly be seen as a tyrant. His solution was to garrison only the duty cohort in Rome and the rest outside of the city. The troops moreover were dressed in civilian garb, hiding their weapons under their clothing. The concern for safety of the emperor was not sufficiently acquiesced by the Praetorian Guard however. Augustus had adopted Caesar’s Germanic horseguard as well. They were to become the Batavi, the equites singulars of the Flavian dynasty. As his personal guard and exemplary barbarians, they owned loyalty to him only and were supposed to protect him against plots in his inner circle. Their sensitive position is illustrated by the fact that they were sent away after the Varian disaster. Augustus felt he could not trust them anymore. Tiberius immediately reinstated this unit, and Caligula even went so far as to travel to their homelands to personally select them.