The Praetorian Guard, Rome’s Intelligence Service

Abstract

Abstract Rome was a kingdom, then a republic, and culminated in a militaristic empire. For this, the city of Mars invented, perfected and organized efficient institutions to carry out its plans, which extended it from the Italic Peninsula throughout the world on which Rome had a say. One of the most efficient institutions, the essence of the Roman executive power, was not the Princeps, but the Praetorian Guard, a military and police institution, at the same time political, economic, but especially with the powers of a secret service, being one of the forerunners of European secret services, surpassing all that had existed until its functioning, not being matched to this day in terms of efficiency and impact in the life of a civilization. When founding the Principate, the Praetorian Guard was the one which transformed the imperial dream of Rome into a historical reality. The “wings of the Roman eagle” that spread over the world conquered by the Romans were Praetorian, if we consider that this institution was coordinated by ordo equester, the tagma of Rome’s career officers, its headquarters, but also the government of Rome, the praetorian prefect also fulfilling the function which today we would call prime minister, the second man in the hierarchy of the Roman state, of course after the princeps (the first of the citizens).Although as a military structure, the Praetorian Guard appeared with the professional Roman army, it reached its peak with the Principate, initially having a guard function for the Roman military commander, it became in time the most effective secret service of classical Antiquity. This success was due to the fact that the Romans were inspired by the Spartans (especially the Ephorian magistrates), but also by the Persians (from the administrative organization of the satrapies, the 10,000 immortals, and especially the royal postal service of Persia), the Roman creation being the most complete, therefore the etymology of the word “information” is Latin.From a military perspective, the Praetorian Guard was organized at all levels of a global society, such as Rome, covering informatively, politically, militarily, economically, but also diplomatically all Roman interests in the world controlled by Rome, being a true intelligence service. It was the first informative outpost in non-Roman territories, which had to be transformed into Roman territories, as was the case of Dacia.