Numerus Batavorum
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The Numerus Batavorum,[2] also called the cohors Germanorum,[3] Germani corporis custodes,[4] Germani corpore custodes,[5] Imperial German Bodyguard[6] or Germanic bodyguard[7] was a personal, imperial guards unit for the Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (30 BC – AD 68) composed of Germanic soldiers. Although the Praetorians may be considered the Roman emperor's main bodyguard, the Germanic bodyguards were a unit of more personal guards recruited from distant parts of the Empire, so they had no political or personal connections with Rome or the provinces.[8]
From Commentarii de Bello Gallico, it is known that Julius Caesar also had a Germanic bodyguard.[9][10]