I suspect it was Claudius just being proactive - “The longer you keep me alive, the richer you get. So keep not killing me, please.” A thinker and a planner, Claudius!
They were mostly quiet during Claudius’s reign, but later the Praetorians’d become real terrors of that sort, outright extorting Emperors at swordpoint. Of course, they also were pretty militarily ineffectual - in one incident in the 3rd century, they failed to install their chosen imperial candidate because the people of Rome, literal civilians rioting in the streets, overwhelmed them and installed their (and the Senate’s) candidate.
Was this the first time a Praetorian appointed emperor happened?
Because I think maybe that whole multiplication bonus every year might have to do something with the greed setting in
Yep, first time!
I suspect it was Claudius just being proactive - “The longer you keep me alive, the richer you get. So keep not killing me, please.” A thinker and a planner, Claudius!
They were mostly quiet during Claudius’s reign, but later the Praetorians’d become real terrors of that sort, outright extorting Emperors at swordpoint. Of course, they also were pretty militarily ineffectual - in one incident in the 3rd century, they failed to install their chosen imperial candidate because the people of Rome, literal civilians rioting in the streets, overwhelmed them and installed their (and the Senate’s) candidate.