I've read recently a discussion on the Roman Praetorian guard. The gist seemed to be that Roman Emperors were largely at their whim -- sometimes they would deci

I've read recently a discussion on the Roman Praetorian guard. The gist seemed to be that Roman Emperors were largely at their whim -- sometimes they would decide to kill the emperor for no good reason. Any kind of rogue unchecked power is a disaster waiting to happen (because they can yield their power in self-interest or in various irresponsible ways). See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praetorian_Guard#Severan_dynasty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praetorian_Guard#Severan_dynas... They went as far as auctioning the emperor title at one time!