Scholae Palatinae: The Palace Guards of the Later Roman Empire

Few students of the Later Roman Empire could claim, if they were honest, that they fully understood all the nice distinctions between the various corps of palace guards — the 'protectores', the 'domestici', the 'protectores domestici', 'scholae', 'candidati', 'excubitores', 'scribones', etc. With characteristic lucidity and brevity A. H. M. Jones introduced order into the chaos in most people's minds in Ch. xvii of his 'Later Roman Empire' (1964). While seldom differing from Jones in matters of substance, Frank has provided a careful and thorough account of the character, recruitment, and function of these bodies. His general thesis is that their role was not so much a 'military academy for the training of officers' (as often assumed) as 'to serve the Emperor personally, not only to guard him and to assist in court ceremonies but also to serve as agents of imperial control in the provinces and in army headquarters.