Praetorium

The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally the name for the commander's tent or house in a Roman fortification, a castra or castellum.
Later, praetorium was used for the residence of a procurator (governor) of a Roman province, thus acquiring an administrative and juridical sense that was carried over in the Byzantine Empire, where the praitōrion was the residence of a city's governor. The term was also used for the emperor's 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 at Housesteads along Hadrian's Wall
Category:Latin political phrases
Category:New Testament places
Category:New Testament Latin words and phrases