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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.