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[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Wow this is pretty interesting, the Praetorian Guards eventually started running Rome and became more powerful than the Emperor. It got to where he needed their approval to do things, and the Praetorian Guards were killing off new Emperor candidates they didn't like.

Sounds a lot like today in the US in some ways. Just shows these cycles come and go throughout human history

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, those are interesting observations. But, I am not sure if the comparison necessarily do their ethical behaviors justice, in that time at least. They were fiercely loyal and much of what is now derided as a political takeover was, in their own words, done out of loyalty to the emperor at the time. If they were right to be this loyal to the point of supporting a corrupt emperor, I do not know. Maybe, if they had been loyal to a founding document, as opposed to the sort of personal loyalty that seemed more common then, they would have acted differently. I am not a history expert, though, just interested in the same.

Either way, if you agree with some of their actions or not, they often put their own principles above their own safety and gave their lives in the service of others. I haven't watched all of the video, yet, but judging by its length, it is probably very compressed. It takes a lot of context, I think, to put many of the political events at the time in context.

Some of the best historical accounts can probably still be found in the works of such celebrated scholars as Theodor Mommsen. It would be unfair of me to expect a five minute video on YouTube to do that era any justice.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The Imperial German Bodyguard, the Batavi, were one of the most elite military groups of that time. They also seemed to have had a strong moral code as they appear to have taken very firmly principled moral stands that sometimes put them in harsh opposition to the political dynamics that eventually fractured Rome and its empire. Loyalty, bravery, and strength. Those were some of the core features of the Batavi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerus_Batavorum

The guard was disbanded briefly after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest,[citation needed][18] and was finally dissolved by Galba in 68[3] because of its loyalty to Nero (ruled 54-68), whom he had overthrown. The decision caused deep offense to the Batavi, and contributed to the outbreak of the Revolt of the Batavi in the following year.[19] Their indirect successors were the Equites singulares Augusti which were, likewise, mainly recruited from the Germani. They were apparently so similar to the Julio-Claudians' earlier German Bodyguard that they were given the same nickname, the "Batavi".[20]

Tacitus (De origine et situ Germanorum XXIX) described the Batavi as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic wars, with cohorts under their own commanders transferred to Britannia. They retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war [...]

Tragically, many of them fell victim to political intrigue and other abuses, as is often the case in a world ruled by powerful political entities. The Batavi were also some of the few forces that have ever been able to achieve significant victories at that time against the Roman Empire, although not without employing some of the Romans' own military tactics against them. Whether that should diminish their victories or be a testament to their military strategy acumen, on top of mere strength and bravery, I am not sure.

Either way, despite only comprising a tiny portion of Rome's military forces, they seem to have been able to hit far above their weight, so to speak:

The Batavi auxilia amounted to about 5,000 men, implying that for the entire Julio-Claudian period, over 50% of all Batavi males reaching military age (16 years) may have enlisted in the auxilia. Thus the Batavi, although just about 0.05% of the total population of the empire in AD 23, supplied about 4% of the total auxilia i.e. 80 times their proportionate share.[citation needed] They were regarded by the Romans as the best and bravest (fortissimi, validissimi) of their auxiliary, and indeed of all their forces.[3] In Roman service, they had perfected a unique technique for swimming across rivers wearing full armour and weapons.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Batavi

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am putting this into a separate comment, because this is a bit of a tangent. The Germanic people in general seem to have a warrior-like tendency, with some of their military orders being among the oldest of the world. I am mentioning this here because I could not help but think of the Order of the Teutonic Knights, which are an active society to this day, stretching all the way back to 1192.

It is interesting because, justifiably, we focus on present political dynamics to judge the character, the influence, and the strength of a nation, but then we forget that many cultures stretch back many times further than the United States, for example, have even existed. We often have a tendency to pass on the crown of the world's most eminent empire to the United States, but then we should remind ourselves that it has only really held that title post WWII, for a few decades, and is already showing signs of decline, whereas some people can trace back their inception to the Roman Empire. What empires endure or fall, which powers rise, is often hard to say from view of a mere few decades. I have lived in buildings in Europe that were older than America has even existed as a country. We should have the humility to have that perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutonic_Order

Also of tangential relevance:

The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum; German: Heiliges Römisches Reich), occasionally but unofficially referred to as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation,[8] was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire

For better or for worse, Germanic people seem to have some fiercely martial traits.