Song of the Praetorians – Epic Roman Music

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Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Demetrios Paraschos, with much help from my friend Luke of the Scorpio Martianus and polýMATHY channel. Please note that this isn’t reconstructed ancient Roman music, only modern music with elements of Roman music and Roman instrumentation.

The Praetorians were the elite bodyguards of the Roman emperors, and were well known to be some of the greatest warriors of the empire too. Their role as bodyguards was often complicated by their participation in palace intrigues, and they sometimes killed the very man they were sworn to protect.

The lyrics use Classical Latin pronunciation; as much as possible, the melodically stressed vowel in a word is the one stressed in the language according to Latin’s penultimate stress rule, and I tried to stick to long and short vowel length as much as possible: hence within a word, the long vowels are held longer or sung melismatically, compared to the short vowels. However, I sang a few long vowels not long enough whenever the music absolutely demanded it. The written lyrics on screen are written as the Romans would have written them: the “U” letter is represented by a “V” and instead of macrons, there are apices as the Romans themselves wrote, check out Luke’s interesting video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3bmLi1bKI0&t=16s

The instrumentation uses an ancient Greco-Roman lyre, aulos, drums, and ancient cymbals. The melody is written using both the ancient Phrygian and Dorian modes of Greco-Roman music theory of Antiquity.

Latin lyrics:
Tibi fidēlitātem jūrāmus,
Sumus tuī humilēs servī,
Et vīta nostra tibi pertinet,

Hostēs tuī corruent,
Nam gladiī nostrī ac scūta validī sunt, Memineris, Imperātor,
Sumus tuum scūtum,

Tuās pugnās gerimus, tē victōriam efficimus,
Nōn est Imperātor sine nōbis,
Haec numquam oblivīscāris, ō Caesar,

Clāmās fortiter,
Nōlī oblivīscī qui tē in sōlium posuerit,
Memineris, vīta tua nōbis pertinet,

Jacē super pavīmentum marmoreum, Caesar,
Nōn amplius purpureum indue,
Et marmoreum candidum in rubrum convertistī

English translation:
We pledge loyalty to you,
We are your humble servants,
And our lives belong to you,

Your enemies, they flee,
For our swords are sharp, our shields strong,
Remember, Emperor,
We are your shield,

We fight your wars, we make you victorious,
There is no Emperor without us,
Never forget this, oh Caesar,

You speak loudly Caesar, you are arrogant,
Do not forget who placed you on the throne,
Remember, your life belongs to us,

Lie on the marble floor, Caesar,
You wear purple no longer,
And vou have turned the white marble red.

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46 thoughts on “Song of the Praetorians – Epic Roman Music”

  1. DISCLAIMER: I know that the comment section will be blitzkrieg-ed by people opposing the translation of "imperātor" as "emperor" and saying "actually imperātor didn't mean emperor it was a military office etc etc." The context of these lyrics clearly sets the song deep within the imperial era of Roman history. The history of Latin in ancient Rome stretches across 1000 years. Words change in meaning over such a long time. With such languages, we can't always say "this word meant that," often, we have to clarify what it meant in which specific era.

    Indeed, originally in the Republican era, imperātor didn't mean "emperor," as we understand it, but by the time the Roman Empire falls, all the diverging dialects of Latin that are becoming fully fledged Romance languages now use this word to mean something akin to "monarch/king" like we do. We can do the math: clearly, as the Principate and Dominate eras went on, the word ended up being more and more closely associated to the person of the monarch of the state, to the point where by the end, its meaning had effectively changed. That is the natural evolution of languages, just like how "mean" meant poor people/peasants in Shakespeare's time, and now has gained a new meaning after a few centuries of gradual connotation change.

    kk love you thx for reading byeee😘

    Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Demetrios Paraschos, with much help from my friend Luke of the Scorpio Martianus and polýMATHY channel. Please note that this isn't reconstructed ancient Roman music, only modern music with elements of Roman music and Roman instrumentation.

    The Praetorians were the elite bodyguards of the Roman emperors, and were well known to be some of the greatest warriors of the empire too. Their role as bodyguards was often complicated by their participation in palace intrigues, and they sometimes killed the very man they were sworn to protect.

    The lyrics use Classical Latin pronunciation; as much as possible, the melodically stressed vowel in a word is the one stressed in the language according to Latin's penultimate stress rule, and I tried to stick to long and short vowel length as much as possible: hence within a word, the long vowels are held longer or sung melismatically, compared to the short vowels. However, I sang a few long vowels not long enough whenever the music absolutely demanded it. The written lyrics on screen are written as the Romans would have written them: the "U" letter is represented by a "V" and instead of macrons, there are apices as the Romans themselves wrote, check out Luke's interesting video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3bmLi1bKI0&t=16s

    The instrumentation uses an ancient Greco-Roman lyre, aulos, drums, and ancient cymbals. The melody is written using both the ancient Phrygian and Dorian modes of Greco-Roman music theory of Antiquity.

    Latin lyrics:
    Tibi fidēlitātem jūrāmus,
    Sumus tuī humilēs servī,
    Et vīta nostra tibi pertinet,

    Hostēs tuī corruent,
    Nam gladiī nostrī ac scūta validī sunt, Memineris, Imperātor,
    Sumus tuum scūtum,

    Tuās pugnās gerimus, tē victōriam efficimus,
    Nōn est Imperātor sine nōbis,
    Haec numquam oblivīscāris, ō Caesar,

    Clāmās fortiter,
    Nōlī oblivīscī qui tē in sōlium posuerit,
    Memineris, vīta tua nōbis pertinet,

    Jacē super pavīmentum marmoreum, Caesar,
    Nōn amplius purpureum indue,
    Et marmoreum candidum in rubrum convertistī

    English translation:
    We pledge loyalty to you,
    We are your humble servants,
    And our lives belong to you,

    Your enemies, they flee,
    For our swords are sharp, our shields strong,
    Remember, Emperor,
    We are your shield,

    We fight your wars, we make you victorious,
    There is no Emperor without us,
    Never forget this, oh Caesar,

    You speak loudly Caesar, you are arrogant,
    Do not forget who placed you on the throne,
    Remember, your life belongs to us,

    Lie on the marble floor, Caesar,
    You wear purple no longer,
    And vou have turned the white marble red.

    Reply

  2. Like every other song you make, it is intentional, driven and I do like how it progresses from them being these elite, honorable warriors and ends where they become corrupt, in which they kill you, the Caesar.

    Reply

  7. Impresionante como sacan nuevas canciones y siguen superándose , y estuvo genial que sacaran una sinfonía sobre la famosa guardia pretoriana, seria interesante si hicieran una inspirada en los catafractos partos que fueron la mejor caballeria pesada de su tiempo o sobre los capiculi sipahi que fueron la caballería elite del imperio otomano

    Reply

  10. Farya's work is the best I've heard in a long time. Special thanks for explaining some points in the comments under the video, they are always interesting to read. (I used a translator, so there may be an error here)

    Reply

  17. Knowing Latin, this was fascinating to hear! The elongation of the words for the song's scanning needs must have been a genuine challenge. It is hard enough to hear spoken Latin from the Roman times. Thank you for the wonderful video.

    Reply

  23. Are you planning to add this one to your Songs of Rome and Byzantium playlist ? Best playlist when going out for a run ! 🏃Un grand merci pour la motivation.😎

    Reply

  40. Once again, a magnificent Classical Latin, excellently done Farya! Especially the "v", perfection achieved😊

    Also also, I enjoy the passive aggressive, forked tongue lyrics here – "Our lives belong to you" and then "There is no Emperor without us":) a great summary of the Praetorian Guard

    Reply

  42. Spent the last few days wandering Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia. Listening to this after wandering through the Imperial Cellars is really quite something. Incredible work.

    Are you familiar at all with Daemona Nymphe? Greek band who make music inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity, this was very reminiscent of their material.

    Reply

  45. Greetings Farya. Is there any chance to consider to make an epic symphony about the Five Good Emperors of Rome? I bet it would be interesting. Anyways, you do a great job, I'm glad to be here since the beginning of this amazing channel. Best wishes from Romania!

    Reply

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