\paperw3990 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 THE PRAETORIAN GUARD\par
This much feared imperial guard set up by \b \cf4 \ATXht158 Augustus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 was co
mposed of young men of a height superior to that of the normal troops (1.7 m), who were obliged to serve for sixteen years. This select corps of the army enjoyed special privileges, not least a salary two or three times as high as the ordinary pay of a l
egionary. The soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, subdivided into ten cohorts-each consisting of 500 men of whom ninety were mounted-were housed by Tiberius in special camps (castra) constructed on the Viminal hill in Rome. the power wielded by the Praetor
ian Guard, which often played a decisive role in the appointment of a new emperor and sometimes succeeded in forcing the selection of its general (praefectus), eventually led \b \cf4 \ATXht160 Constantine\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 to disband the dangerous imperia
