Pretorian Guardians next to the Emperor Claudius. Contrary to what mass culture tells us in movies, pretorians did not actually wear armor when they served in the city of Rome and the imperial palace (except for special occasions like the triumphal march), especially not for the first time two centuries of its existence.
Such a custom of the absence of armed soldiers inside the walls of Rome took from the desire to conceal the issue that the emperors maintained their position on the basis of the army. For this reason, the praetorian camp was located outside the city walls, and the pretorians in the built-up area moved, usually dressed in a toga, under which there was a belt with weapons. In the picture you can see a fragment of the officer’s sword head on the right side of Claudius.
