罗马帝国近卫军的政治角色

The Political Role of the Praetorian Guard

罗马帝国近卫军的政治角色主要通过参与政治生活和国事管理、干预帝位传承以及由此产生的种种"涟漪效应",连同对驻扎外地军团的激励效应具体呈现。皇帝对近卫军的依赖、制度设计欠完善等,为近卫军横行不法、易代之际屡屡杀戮皇帝制造了空间,形成了人类历史上少见的悖论:近卫军本是皇帝的鹰犬,却时常成为皇帝的掘墓人;作为军队的近卫军理应是王室安宁的重要保障,却经常搅乱政局,成为政治动荡、内乱的始作俑者;他们非但没有保障皇室安全,反倒经常杀君弑主,让皇帝成为刀下冤魂。尽管近卫军的政治角色不可以简单归结为对帝位传承蓄意干预,对皇帝的取舍,但种种悖论揭示的是近卫军政治角色的特殊之处,反映出军队作为政治力量的本质。

The Praetorian Guard played their political role mainly through participating in the politics,intervening the succession of emperors,and exerting the negative incentive to the legion. The emperor’s dependence on the Praetorian guards and the imperfection of the Praetorian Guard system provided the possibilities for the Praetorian to run riot or intervene on numerous occasions in the struggle for the imperial succession. The guards were the emperor’s vassal while they often became the gravediggers for the emperor,forming a paradox which rarely happened in the human history. As the elite of the Imperial Roman army whose members served as personal bodyguards to the Roman emperor,instead of ensuring the Royal security,the Praetorian guards often devoured their masters,killed or murdered emperors,created chaos which resulted in the civil wars. Although the political role of the guards cannot be simply attributed to deliberate interference in the succession of the throne and the choice of the emperor,the particularities of this role are revealed by various paradoxes,reflecting the nature of the army as a political force.