ity . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁In ▁ancient ▁Rome , ▁pra et ors ▁were ▁either ▁civ ic ▁or ▁military ▁leaders . ▁The ▁pra et or ian us ▁were ▁initially ▁el ite ▁gu ards ▁for ▁military ▁pra et ors , ▁under ▁the ▁Republic . ▁As ▁the ▁Republic ▁ended , ▁the ▁first ▁em peror , ▁August us , ▁set ▁up ▁an ▁el ite ▁guard ▁of ▁pra et or ian us ▁to ▁protect ▁himself . ▁ ▁The ▁early ▁Pra et or ian ▁Guard ▁differ ed ▁greatly ▁from ▁that ▁in ▁later ▁times , ▁which ▁came ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁vital ▁force ▁in ▁the ▁power ▁politics ▁of ▁Rome . ▁While ▁August us ▁understood ▁the ▁need ▁to ▁have ▁a ▁prote ctor ▁in ▁the ▁ma el st rom ▁of ▁Rome , ▁he ▁was ▁careful ▁to ▁u ph old ▁the ▁Republican ▁v ene er ▁of ▁his ▁regime . ▁Thus , ▁he ▁allowed ▁only ▁nine ▁coh ort s ▁to ▁be ▁formed , ▁each ▁originally ▁consisting ▁of ▁ 5 0 0 ▁men . ▁He ▁then ▁increased ▁them ▁to ▁ 1 , 0 0 0 ▁men ▁each , ▁but ▁allowed ▁three ▁units ▁to ▁be ▁kept ▁on ▁duty ▁at ▁any ▁given ▁time ▁in ▁the ▁capital . ▁A ▁small ▁number ▁of ▁det ached ▁caval ry ▁units ▁( t ur ma e ) ▁of ▁ 3 0 ▁men ▁each ▁were ▁also ▁organized . ▁While ▁they ▁pat rolled ▁incon sp ic u ously ▁in ▁the ▁palace ▁and ▁major ▁buildings , ▁the ▁others ▁were ▁station ed ▁in ▁the ▁towns ▁surrounding ▁Rome . ▁This ▁system ▁was ▁not ▁rad ically ▁changed ▁with ▁the