pretorian

Pre*to"ri*an, a. Etym: [L. praetorians: cf. F. prétorien.] Defn: Of or pertaining to a pretor or magistrate; judicial; exercised by, or belonging to, a pretor; as, pretorian power or authority. Pretorian bands or guards, or Pretorians (Rom. Hist.), the emperor's bodyguards, instituted by the Emperor Augustus in nine cohorts of 1,000 men each. -- Pretorian gate (Rom. Antiq.), that one of the four gates in a camp which lay next the enemy. Brande & C. Pre*to"ri*an, n. Defn: A soldier of the pretorian guard.

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