Barracks

Barracks | Praetorian Camp | Praetorium

You see row upon row of orderly, if small, barracks for the soldiers. The Praetorian Guard was organized along the same lines as the rest of the Roman army. When the unit was established under Augustus, it included only nine cohorts. That number varied from the standard ten to as many as sixteen under Vitellius, but thereafter tended to remain at ten.

Life in the Praetorian Guard was much better than that in the regular army. The benefits included higher pay (66% more than the pay for standard legionaries for their annual pay and on their discharge), shorter terms of service (16 years instead of the standard 20-25), and the relative safety of the city. Only on rare occasions were they called on to approach the front on campaign with the emperor.