The Pretorian Guard

"The Roman praetors were first established in 367 B.C. They evolved into the Praetorian Guard that came to exercise great power, making and unmaking emperors and allowing political and military action outside of the law. What rules that were observed were announced by the issuance of edicts. The Guard was characterized by corruption and political venality and was closed down by Constantine in 312 A. D". (John Stockwell) My recent article, The proper role of America's military, drew an extraordinary amount of e-mail. With the exception of two opposing views, it seems many Americans feel as I do - America's military is being used as the modern day version of the Roman Praetorian Guard. Posted by Editor at August 2, 2004 05:25 AM