Jovians and Herculians were the imperial guard of the Emperors of the Roman Empire from 284 until 988
The Praetorian Guard were based at Castra Praetoria just outside Rome, and during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian were in league with the Roman Senate. So in 284 A.D. Diocletian who lived in Nicomedia, some 60 miles from Byzantium in Asia Minor, promoted two faithful legions of Illyricum to be the personal protectors of the Roman Emperors, a practise that remained intact with the tetrarchy. On their promotion, the two old legions, each of about six thousand men, were renamed Jovians and Herculians. In 988 they in their turn were replaced in the Byzantine Empire by the Varangian Guard
- see also: List of Roman legions
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Last updated: 10-20-2005 20:44:22
