The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire established by Emperor Augustus in 2 BC. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides. Under Constantine I, the office was much reduced in power and transformed into a purely civilian administrative post, while under his successors, territorially defined praetorian prefectures emerged as the highest-level administrative division of the Empire. The prefects again functioned as the chief ministers of the state, with many laws addressed to them by name. In this role, praetorian prefects continued to be appointed by the Eastern Roman Empire (and the Ostrogothic Kingdom) until the reign of Heraclius in the 7th century AD, when wide-ranging reforms reduced their power and converted them to mere overseers of provincial administration. The last traces of the prefecture disappeared in the Byzantine Empire by the 840s.
The term praefectus praetorio was often abbreviated in inscriptions as "PR PR" or "PPO".Lesley and Roy Adkins. Handbook to life in Ancient Rome.Oxford University Press, 1993. . page 241M. C. J. Miller. Abbreviations in Latin.Ares Publishers, inc., 1998. . Pages xxcii and xcvi, sub vocibus.
History
Commander of the Praetorian Guard Under the empire the praetorians or imperial guards were commanded by one, two, or even three praefects (praefecti praetorio), who were chosen by the emperor from among the equites and held office at his pleasure. From the time of Alexander Severus the post was open to senators also, and if an equestrian was appointed he was at the same time raised to the senate. Down to the time of Constantine, who deprived the office of its military character, the prefecture of the guards was regularly held by tried soldiers, often by men who had fought their way up from the ranks. In course of time the command seems to have been enlarged so as to include all the troops in Italy except the corps commanded by the city praefect (cohortes urbanae).
The special position of the praetorians made them a power in their own right in the Roman state, and their prefect, the praefectus praetorio, soon became one of the more powerful men in this society. The emperors tried to flatter and control the praetorians, but they staged many coups d'état and contributed to a rapid rate of turnover in the imperial succession. The praetorians thus came to destabilize the Roman state, contrary to their purpose. The praetorian prefect became a major administrative figure in the later empire, when the post combined in one individual the duties of an imperial chief of staff with direct command over the guard also. Diocletian greatly reduced the power of these prefects as part of his sweeping reform of the empire's administrative and military structures.
Transformation to administrator
In addition to his military functions, the praetorian prefect came to acquire jurisdiction over criminal affairs, which he exercised not as the delegate but as the representative of the emperor. By the time of Diocletian he had become a kind of grand-vizier as the emperor's vice-regent and 'prime minister.' Constantine removed active military command in 312. The prefect remained as chief quarter-master general responsible for the logistical supply of the army. The prefect was the chief financial officer whose office drew up the global imperial budget. His office drew up the state liturgical obligations laid on the richer inhabitants of the Empire. He ceased to be head of administration which had to be shared with the master of the offices attached to the palace. Constantine in 331 confirmed that from the sentence of the praetorian praefect there should be no appeal. A similar jurisdiction in civil cases was acquired by him not later than the time of Septimius Severus. Hence a knowledge of law became a qualification for the post, which under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, but especially from the time of Severus, was held by the first jurists of the age, (e.g. Papinian, Ulpian, Paulus) and, under Justinianus, John the Cappadocian, while the military qualification fell more and more into the background.
The tetrarchy reform of Diocletian () multiplied the office: there was a praetorian prefect as chief of staff (military and administrative)—rather than commander of the guard—for each of the two Augusti, but not for the two Caesars. Each praetorian prefect oversaw one of the four quarters created by Diocletian, which became regional praetorian prefectures for the young sons of Constantine ca 330 A.D. From 395 there were two imperial courts, at Rome (later Ravenna) and Constantinople, but the four prefectures remained as the highest level of administrative division, in charge of several dioceses (groups of Roman provinces), each of which was headed by a Vicarius.
Under Constantine I, the institution of the magister militum deprived the praetorian prefecture altogether of its military character but left it the highest civil office of the empire.
Post-imperial era With the fall of the western part of the Empire into the hands of warlords, these, in order to have support in their new domains, recognized the supremacy of the emperor of the eastern part, reuniting at least de iure the Empire under him, the prefectures were maintained as a way of delimiting the new viceroyalties:
First Flavius Odoacer and later Flavius Theodoricus were granted the prefecture of Italy; Louis I was recognized as the prefect of Gaul (which served him as a pretext to seize the Visigoths' territories in Gaul); the Visigoths were recognized for their dominion over the prefecture of Hispania; and the Vandals theirs over Africa.
This recognition would be maintained until the rise of Justinian I, who ended the Ostrogothic and Vandal domains, but continued to recognize the Franks (as they were both Catholics) and the Visigoths (due to the lack of strength to continue the Recuperatio Imperii, but managing to establish a pro-Byzantine king, Athanagild, and the conquest of Spania).
List of known prefects of the Praetorian Guard The following is a list of all known prefects of the Praetorian Guard, from the establishment of the post in 2 BC by Augustus until the abolishment of the Guard in 312.Dates from 2 BC to AD 260 based on Guy de la Bédoyère, Praetorian (New Haven: Yale Press, 2017), pp. 280-282 The list is presumed to be incomplete due to the lack of sources documenting the exact number of persons who held the post, what their names were and what the length of their tenure was. Likewise, the Praetorians were sometimes commanded by a single prefect, as was the case with for example Sejanus or Burrus, but more often the emperor appointed two commanders, who shared joint leadership. Overlapping terms on the list indicate dual command.
Julio-Claudian dynasty (2 BC – AD 68) Prefect Tenure Emperor served Publius Salvius Aper 2 BC –?? Augustus Quintus Ostorius Scapula 2 BC – ?? Augustus Publius Varius LigurThe existence of Varius Ligur is disputed, and is only inferred from a single passage by Cassius Dio, who identifies him as Valerius Ligur. Modern historians suggest that, if Valerius Ligur was a prefect at all, he may have been mistaken for a man named Varius Ligur, who seems to have been a more likely candidate for the office. See Bingham (1997), p. 35. ?? Augustus Lucius Seius Strabo ??–15 Augustus, Tiberius Lucius Aelius Sejanus 14–31 Tiberius Quintus Naevius Sutorius Macro 31–38 Tiberius, Caligula Marcus Arrecinus Clemens 38–41 Caligula Lucius Arruntius Stella 38–41 Caligula Rufrius Pollio 41–44 Claudius Catonius Justus 41–43 Claudius Rufrius Crispinus 43–51 Claudius Lucius Lusius Geta 44–51 Claudius Sextus Afranius Burrus 51–62 Claudius, Nero Lucius Faenius Rufus 62–65 Nero Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus 62–68 Nero Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus 65–68 Nero
Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68–69) Prefect Tenure Emperor served Cornelius Laco 68–69 Galba Plotius Firmus 69 Otho Licinius Proculus 69 Otho Publius Sabinus 69 Vitellius Alfenius Varus 69 Vitellius Junius Priscus 69 Vitellius
Flavian dynasty (AD 69–96) Prefect Tenure Emperor served Arrius Varus 69–70 Vespasian Marcus Arrecinus ClemensSon of Marcus Arrecinus Clemens, who was Praetorian prefect under emperor Claudius 70–71 Vespasian Tiberius Julius AlexanderWhether Tiberius Julius Alexander held the office of Praetorian prefect is disputed, and rests on a fragment from a recovered papyrus scroll. If he did held the post, he may have done so during the Jewish wars under Titus, or during the 70s as his colleague in Rome. See (?) 69–?? Vespasian Titus Flavius VespasianusSon of Vespasian, the later emperor Titus 71–79 Vespasian Lucius Julius UrsusSyme (1980), 66 81–83 Domitian Cornelius Fuscus 81–87 Domitian Lucius Laberius Maximus 83–84 Domitian Casperius Aelianus 84–94 Domitian Titus Flavius Norbanus 94–96 Domitian Titus Petronius Secundus 94–97 Domitian
Five Good Emperors to Didius Julianus (AD 96–193) Prefect Tenure Emperor served Casperius Aelianus 96–98 Nerva Sextus Attius Suburanus 98–101 Trajan Tiberius Claudius Livianus 101–117? Trajan Publius Acilius AttianusSyme (1980), 67 117–120 Trajan, Hadrian Servius Sulpicius Similis 112–123 Trajan, Hadrian Gaius Septicius Clarus 120–123 Hadrian Quintus Marcius Turbo 120–137 Hadrian Marcus Petronius Mamertinus 138–143 Hadrian, Antoninus Pius Marcus Gavius Maximus 138–158 Hadrian, Antoninus Pius Gaius Tattius Maximus 158–160 Antoninus Pius Sextus Cornelius Repentinus 160–166/7 Antoninus Pius Titus Furius Victorinus 159–168 Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius Titus Flavius Constans c. 168 Marcus Aurelius Marcus Macrinius Vindex 168–172 Marcus Aurelius Marcus Bassaeus Rufus 168–177 Marcus Aurelius Publius Tarrutenius Paternus by 179–182 Marcus Aurelius, Commodus Sextus Tigidius Perennis 180–185 Commodus Pescennius Niger c. 185 Commodus Marcius Quartus 185 Commodus Titus Longaeus Rufus 185–187 Commodus Publius Atilius Aebutianus 185–187 Commodus Marcus Aurelius Cleander 187–189 Commodus Lucius Julius Vehilius Gratus Julianus 188–189 Commodus Regillus 189 Commodus Motilenus 190 Commodus, Pertinax, Didius Julianus Quintus Aemilius Laetus 192–193 Commodus, Pertinax, Didius Julianus Titus Flavius Genialis 193 Didius Julianus Tullius Crispinus 193 Didius Julianus
Severan dynasty (AD 193–235) Prefect Tenure Emperor served Flavius Juvenalis 193–197? Didius Julianus, Septimius Severus Decimus Veturius Macrinus 193–197? Didius Julianus, Septimius Severus Gaius Fulvius Plautianus 197–205 Septimius Severus Quintus Aemilius Saturninus 200 Septimius Severus Marcus Aurelius Julianus /205 Septimius Severus, Caracalla Marcus Flavius Drusianus /204 Septimius Severus, Caracalla Aemilius Papinianus 205–211 Septimius Severus, Caracalla Quintus Maecius Laetus 205–215? Septimius Severus, Caracalla Valerius Patruinus 211?–212 Caracalla Gnaeus Marcius Rustius Rufinus 212–217 Caracalla Marcus Oclatinius Adventus 215–217 Caracalla Marcus Opellius MacrinusThe later emperor Macrinus. 214–217 Caracalla Ulpius Julianus 217–218 Macrinus Julianus Nestor 217–218 Macrinus Julius Basilianus 218 Elagabalus Publius Valerius Comazon 218–221 Elagabalus Flavius Antiochianus 221–222 Elagabalus Flavianus 222–2?? Alexander Severus Geminius Chrestus 222–2?? Alexander Severus Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus 222–223/228 Alexander Severus Lucius Domitius Honoratus 223–2?? Alexander Severus Marcus Aedinius Julianus 223–2?? Alexander Severus Marcus Attius Cornelianus Alexander Severus Julius Paulus 228–235 Alexander Severus
Crisis of the Third Century (AD 235–285)