Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/402

* PR^ivZSIZ. 310 PBJETOBnrM. dialect of Latin which seemed amusing to the jjp.. ,„, ,., 1 T-.^^i,- I. . Kits were regarded as pro- vi: -. During the clvU wars 3il^^ .- - hi* heaiiquarters. but the city was taken and destroyed by Sulla (&.C. S2), who rebuilt it with great splendor and settled a Roman colony there. Under the Empire Prtneste was a favorite summer resort, on ac- c»>itnt of its lofty position. Horace lOrffs. iii.. 4. -lit finds eiq[ual charm in friffidum I'ranestf, Tibur supinum, and liquidtr Baia. Pneneste was renowned for its large and magnitii."ent Tem- ple of Fortune with an oracle much frequented br worshipers. (Cf. Sortes Pranesti»ar, Cicero, De Die, ii., 41.) During the Middle Ages Pales- trina was long a bone of contention between the popes and the powerful Colonna family, and was destroyed in 1436. but afterwards rebuilt. In 1630 Pope Urban VIII. ceded it to the Barberini. Palestrina is now a s«iualid town occupying ap- proximately the site of the ancient Temple of Fortune: its population is 610O. Besides the Barberini Palace, it contains fine remains of the ancient polygonal walls. The great composer Gioranni Pierluigi da Palestrina was bom here. PBAET. prat. .JcxES ta:? (lS0e-S7t. A Bel- gian statesman and historian, bom at Bruges. iSe studied law at Ghent, was appointed arcUi>ist of Bruges, later became secretary to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, and after the latter assumed the title of Leopold I., confidential ad- riser in the royal suite. In the various diffi- culties attending the beginnings of the monarchy he was of great assistance. He wrote a Histoire de la Flaiidre ( 1S2S i, defective owing to the non- critical use of sources: and L'ariffiite rffs om- inunfs '■' '-* (lS2i>>. of much valtie. But 'his mo- :.c work is his Etudes sur Vhii- taire p- • dfrnkrs »i*.clfs (3 vols., 1S67, 1S74. 1SS4 1 . an aiimirable series of essays on European politics, in which the analysis of note- worthy historical personages occupies important place." Consult Wanters." Xotice sur Jules can Praet (Brussels. 1S8£>). FKiTITOB (Lat.. leader, governor, command- er). The title of an important magistrate among the ancient Romans. The name meant orig- inally simply "leader.' and as such was first ap- plied to the two consuls, after the expulsion of the kings. As a separate office the prjetorship was first created in B.c. 3»>6. open only to patri- cians as a compensation for the consulship, to which plebeians were now made eligible. Thus the patrician pr.etor was a sort of thinj consul, and in fact was called "colleague of the consuls.' and was accompanied by sis lictors, as the con- suls were accompanied by twelve. In B.C. 3.37 the prvetorship too was thrown open to the ple- beians, and became the highest judicial office within the city, and the immediate stepping- stone to the consuUhip. With the growth of Rome's foreign relatiiins and the increase in the city's foreign population, the judicial business became too vast for oc-? magistrate, and in B.C. 246 a second pnetorship was founded. From now on, the original pr:etor. known as pnetor Mrbanus. or "city prsetor.' presided over litiga- tion between Roman citizeiK. while the foreign pnetor.' or pnrtor pfregri'i'i^. presided over cases where one or both of the litigants were foreign- ers. In B.C. 2^7 twn more p rotors were ap- pointed, for the special admmistration of af- fairs in Sicily and Sardinia, while Spain re- ceived two more in B.C. 1J>7, and in course of time the number was still further increased, until it reached the maximnm of eighteen, among which we hear of pralores ararii, or ad (trariMm. connected with the national treasury, and pr-j- tores tutelarii, a sort of judges of probate. The prstorship was ordinarily of annual tenure, and the age required was thirty years. After his year of service in Rome the prsetor went as gover- nor to some province. PR^TOBIAIf GtrABS (Lat. praloria o kortts. piatvriaiftii. The body-guard of the Ro- man emperors. A prtrtoria cohors, or select guard of the most valiant soldiers, was attached to the person of Scipio Afrioanus : but it was to Augustus that its institution as a separate force was due. He formed nine cohorts, each con- sisting of 1000 men (horse and foot), under the command of a prefect : but kept only three of them in Rome, the rest being dispersed in cities not far off. Tiberius, however, assembled the nine cohorts at the capital in a permanent camo. and Vitellius increased their number to sixteen. The praetorians served at first for twelve an". afterwards for sixteen years: they received dou'ole pay; the privates were held equal in rank to t'm centurions in the regular army, and on their re- tirement each received 20.000 sesterces. TbeT soon acquired a dangerous power, which they exercised in the most unscrupulous manner, de- posing and elevating emperors at their ple-asur*. Aspirants for the Imperial dignity found it ad- visable, and even necessary, to bribe them largely: while those who acquired that dignity without their assistance were accustomed on their accession to purchase their favor by liberal dona- tions. The pr*torians. however, had no politic or ambitious views : they were simply an insoh and rapacious soldiery, fond of substantial grat fications. and unmindful how they got them. .■'* the death of Pertinax ( aJ). 193) they act sold the purple' for a sum of money to Did Jolianus: but in the same year their organization was entirely broken up by Sever who formed new cohorts altogether out of best legions serving on the frontiers, which increased to four times the number of the oh After several other changes, they were ent abolished by Constantine "i A j). 312). PB^TCBimC. A Latin word, adopted i later r;reek. signifying originally the tent of I pr*tor or general: then the military council gathering there. It also designated the official resi- dence of a provincial governor: after the tiine of Augustus, any princely house: finally, the Imperial bodyguard. In the Xew Testament the Greek word is variously rendered, owing to the effort of the translators to convey in each case the local or specific significance of the term. Hence in the Authorized Version it is called "the common hall' i Matt, ssvii. 27 ) ; 'judgment hall" or "Pilate's house' ( .John xviii.. 2S. 33 : xix. 9 i : "Herod's judgment hall' ( Acts xxiii. 3.5 1 : and the palace' or "Csesar's courf (Phil. i. 13). The Revised Version renders the term either by its transliterated form ^r*torium' or "palace.' Whatever building the governor occupied at any time was. by virtue of the fact, the Pr*tc- rium. In Jerusalem this was probably the well- known palace of Herod, described bv .Josepho^ >Ant.. 3nr.. ix.. 3). Consult for further details the various commentaries on the possaiges enu-