Barracks of the Praetorian Guard

The Caserne of the Praetorian Guard ( Castrated Praetoria ) was built by the emperor Tibère at the instigation of the prefect of the Praetorian guard of the Roman Empire Lucius Aelius Sejanus in 26 a. J. - C. when its troops became permanent.

The urban Cohortes also placed in this camp before the construction of the Caserne of the urban troops ( Castra Urbana ).

This camp bore also the name of Praetorian Château ( Castrum Praetorium ) or Praetorian Camps ( Castrae Praetoriae ).

The Caserne was located in the north-eastern extreme part of Rome, just beyond the inhabited area, approximately 500 meters in the east of the Agger , on one of the more high summits with Rome: 59-60 meters above sea level. It ordered the north-eastern entry of the city. The camp was built on the Roman model usual, forming a rectangle of 440 meters length and 380 meters broad, with the corners rounded. The longest axis, the maximus of cardo , went from north to the south and at its ends, the Porta Praetoria and the Porta Decumana .

The original walls built by Tibère were out of concrete and 4,73 height meters brick and had ramparts. Inside the wall the lines of rooms occupied by the soldiers were. They made 3 meters in height, in Opus reticulatum furnished with Stuc. Above the rooms existed a covered way for the guards.

In the camp, a Court, a furnace bridge of Mars and an imperial arms manufacture were built. In the northern part of the camp a furnace bridge was Fortuna Restitutrix

The emperor Aurélien incorporated the camp in its line of fortifications, which united the camp with the north-western corner and in the middle of the southern part. The walls north and is, facing the Roman countryside, thus formed the continuation of the Mur of Aurélien, and their original sizes were increased by 2,5 to 3 meters, and a 2,3 depth meters ditch was dug at the base of the walls of the camp being used as fortifications.

The doors on the sides north and east were walled by Maxence in 312 a. J. - C. and Constantin Ier dissolves the Praetorian Garde and dismantled their barracks, probably by destroying the interior walls which had not been employed by Aurélien.

The barracks of Praetorian was an essential political place in the history of the Roman empire: it is there that a new emperor was to be made acclaim by the troops at the beginning of his takeover. At the time of the dynastic crises as in 68, 193 or 238 the control of the Praetorian and their barracks was thus an policy issue of size for the applicants with the empire.

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