The article is focused on ways the new Russian historiography interprets the role of the Praetorian guard in the political crisis 68–69 A.D. At the beginning of the article the principal approaches to the issue discussed are considered, the key historiographic concepts are described. Concept evaluations of modern historians brought out both in research papers devoted to the subject, and in the works on wider topics are compared. The authors suppose that over the past decade there have been major changes in the evaluations and approaches of national historiography. The authors stress that researchers who rely on the prosopographic and case study methods tend to exaggerate the importance of minor clashes and disagreements among the groups of the Praetorian Guard rooted in the social stratification. The authors points out that the implication of political struggle and the role of the Praetorian Guard in 68–69 A.D crisis have been examined by the supporters of military-historical anthropology and of the concept of the struggle between the forces of «the new Empire» and «the old Republic». In conclusion the authors admit that despite diversity of opinions, all representatives of national historiography consider the Praetorians role most influential throughout «the year of the four emperors», the rivals for authority using the preponderance of legions force as the last resort in the power struggle.