Liliputin-4314

Every ruler should be especially on guard in regard to the Praetorian Guards ... "
Nicolo  Machiavelli


Liliputins. What, the heck, is this?
http://stihi.ru/2021/11/24/7101

to be on guard
On guard is an adjective or a phrase that means being vigilant, careful, and aware because a situation might be dangerous or require guarding a place or person. It can be used with a possessive adjective between on and guard

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The was an elite unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guards were escorts for high-ranking political officials (senators and procurators) and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by whose influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the new caesar of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the cohortes praetoriae and destroyed their barracks at the Castra Praetoria.