{{Orphan, date=April 2014
In the ancient
Hittite empire, the Tabarnas meant the highest dignitary, by degree similar to the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
: though, differently from it, the Tabarnas was not an absolute monarch, but a kind of a council (the panko) was upon his decisions. This rendered the Hittite empire a military aristocracy.
The noun comes from
Labarnas I
Labarna I was the traditional first king of the Hittites, c. early 17th century BC (middle chronology), the most accepted chronology nowadays. He was the traditional founder of the Hittite Old Kingdom (fl. c. 1680(?)-1650 BCE). His wife was Tawann ...
, one of the greatest Hittite kings (and probably founder of the empire), much like the Roman "
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
".
Hittite Empire
Heads of state