Praetorian: Rise and Fall of Rome’s Imperial Guard

Praetorian: Rise and Fall of Rome’s Imperial Guard
by Guy de la Bedoyere
Published in February 2017
334 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 4/5


I really enjoyed this book - although the history maintained a clear narrative, it was very well sourced. The writing was clear and academic, and all of the basics check off.


The Praetorian guard were imperial bodyguards, who are often compared by modern authors to intelligence agencies. Guy de la Bedoyere does an excellent job at correcting these anachronisms, and systematically narrates the history of the guard.


This book was very education for me because it helped me understand how historians piece together history about a specific topic.


I recommend this book, but only to people who know enough about Roman history that they already know, going in, what the Praetorian guard is.