Rank and File
| Ranks of the Praetorian Guard, in ascending order | |
|---|---|
| Milites | Regular soldiers of the guard. |
| Immunes | Guardsmen with secondary specialist roles that exempted them from other less than desired duties. After five years these soldiers were allowed to serve in the Equites singulares (cavalry branch). |
| Evocati Augusti | After 16 years of service guardsmen could retire with a sizeable cash payment. Guardsmen who chose to stay in service after the 16 year period were called Evocati and gained privileges. |
| Centuriones | Praetorian Centurions commanded centuries of guardsmen while the most senior centurions commanded entire cohorts. |
| Tribuni | These officers acted as staff officers and as deputies to the Praetorian Prefects. |
| Praefectus | The highest rank in the Praetorian Guard, head of the Praetorian Guard. |
See the article Praetorian prefect, which also lists the incumbents of the post of Praefectus praetorio and covers the essentially civilian second life of the office, since ca 300, as administrator of the territorial circumscriptions known as praetorian prefectures).
Read more about this topic: Praetorian Guard
Famous quotes containing the words rank and, rank and/or file:
“The rank and file have let their servants become their masters and dictators.... Provision should be made in all union constitutions for the recall of leaders. Big salaries should not be paid. Career hunters should be driven out, as well as leaders who use labor for political ends. These types are menaces to the advancement of labor.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)