''Aspet'' (, , ''Aspetes'' in contemporary Greek) was a hereditary military title of the

Armenian nobility The Armenian nobility ( hy, Հայ ազնվականություն) was a class of persons which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other members of society under the laws and customs of various regimes of Armenia. Governments which recognized o ...

, usually found within the Bagratuni family.

Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

(1963), ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History III'', pp. 202, 324-26.

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political sc ...

. The name has been derived from either the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

*viθa/visapati "head of the clan", or in more likelihood aspapati, later ''

aspbed Aspbed (also spelled Aspbad and asppat; literally “commander of the cavalry”, from Old Iranian *''aspa-pati-''), was a title of Iranian origin used by the Parthian and Sasanian empires. History The word is first attested in an ''ostracon'' ...

'' (or aspbad) which designated the Iranian office of Master of the Horse (commander of the cavalry). The Armenian army was comprised overwhelmingly of cavalry, under the command of the High Constable (''

sparapet ' ( hy, սպարապետ) was a military title and office in ancient and medieval Armenia. Under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the ' was the supreme commander of the kingdom's armed forces. During the Arsacid period and for some time afterwards ...

''), this left no room for a Master of the Horse. There are hardly any references by Armenian historians of the Arshakuni period to any Bagratids in command of the king's forces. Like the ''małxaz'' of the

Khorkhoruni Khorkhoruni ( hy, wikt:Խորխոռունի, Խորխոռունի) was a region and a noble family of ancient and medieval Armenia c. 400–800. The known rulers are: *Gadecho Khorkhoruni - Գադիշո Խորխոռունի (c. 445) *Khoren I ...

family, ''aspet'' seems to have been a special, gentilitial, title of the Bagratunis, who derived from it their other, short-lived, name of Aspetuni. This title disappears following the

Arab conquest of Armenia The Muslim conquest of parts of Armenia and Anatolia was a part of the Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE. Persarmenia had fallen to the Arab Rashidun Caliphate by 645 CE. Byzantine Armenia was alread ...

. The existence of this title and name may possibly be due to Arsacid Armenia's imitation of Parthia, where one of the Seven Great Houses bore the name of Aspahbad. The name of the Aspietai, a Byzantine noble family of Armenian origin, is derived from ''aspet''. In modern Armenian historiography, the word ''aspet'' also refers to medieval European

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

References

Further reading