Praetorium

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Praetorium was originally the name of the headquarters of a Roman army. The praetorium was the commander's tent or building in a Roman fortification, a castra or castellum.

Later, praetorium was used for the residence of a procurator (governor) of a Roman province. The term was also used for the emperor's headquarters.

The word (also spelled prœtorium or pretorium) was derived from the Greek praitórion, meaning military headquarters.

Praetor ("leader") was originally the title of the highest-ranking civil servant in the Roman Republic but later became a position directly below the rank of consul. A general's lifeguard was known as the cohors praetoriae, out of which developed the Pretorian Guard, the emperor's lifeguard.

Biblical meaning

In the New Testament, praetorium refers to the palace of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea. According to the New Testament, this is where Jesus Christ was tried and condemned to death.

External links

• Praetorium Agrippinae in Valkenburg (The Netherlands)
• Praetorium at Housesteads along Hadrian's Wall

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Last updated on Wednesday March 05, 2008 at 22:28:18 PST (GMT -0800)
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