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The ''katepánō'' ( el, κατεπάνω, lit. "
he one He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
placed at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", meaning head). This hybridized term gave rise to the English language term ''
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
'' and its equivalents in other languages ( Capitan, Kapitan, Kapitän, El Capitán, Il Capitano, Kapudan Pasha etc.)


History

The ''katepáno'' first appears in the 9th century, when it was used in the generic sense of "the one in charge" by two officials: the head of the ''basilikoi anthrōpoi'' ("imperial men"), a class of low-level court functionaries, and the head of the Mardaites marine detachments of the Byzantine naval theme of the
Cibyrrhaeots The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots ( gr, θέμα Κιβυρραιωτῶν, thema Kibyrrhaiōtōn), was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries. ...
in southern Asia Minor. On the eve of the great eastern conquests of the 960s, however, the title acquired a more specific meaning. The reconquered frontier zones were divided into smaller '' themata'', and grouped together to form large regional commands, headed either by a '' doux'' ("duke") or a ''katepanō''. These were the ducates/katepanates of Antioch, covering the south-eastern frontier in northern
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, of Mesopotamia in the east around the
Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
, and of
Chaldia Chaldia ( el, Χαλδία, ''Khaldia'') was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the ''Chaldoi'' (or ''Chalybes'') that i ...
in the north-east.. During the reign of Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025), the eastern border was further expanded, and the katepanate of Iberia was established in 1022. In the West, the most famous katepanate, that of
southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
, is attested in the ''
Escorial Taktikon The ''Escorial Taktikon'' (other spellings: ''Escurial Taktikon'', ''Escorial Tacticon'', ''Escurial Tacticon''), also known as the ''Taktikon Oikonomides'' after Nicolas Oikonomides who first edited it, is a list of Byzantine offices, dignities, ...
'', a list of offices compiled circa 971–975, and after the successful conclusion of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars, a ''katepanō'' of Bulgaria is also attested. A Serbian catepanate is also attested, which was known as the "''katepano'' of Ras". With the catastrophic territorial losses suffered during the 11th century, the office disappears in the sense of the overall military commander, but is retained in a more local level: during the Komnenian and
Palaiologan The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek ...
periods, the term ''katepanikion'' thus comes to denote low-level administrative areas, both in Asia Minor (including the
Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...
) and Europe. These were small subdivisions of the earlier ''themata'', and consisted of little more than a fortified capital (the ''kastron'') and its surrounding territory. In the Palaiologan era, the ''katepanikion'' was governed by a '' kephalē'' (Greek: κεφαλή, "head"), who had supreme civil and military authority within its bounds.. Like many other Byzantine institutions, the ''katepanikion'' as an administrative subdivision was also adopted in the
Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
.


See also

*
Capitan (disambiguation) Capitan and Kapitan are equivalents of the English Captain in other European languages. Capitan, Capitano, and Kapitan may also refer to: Places in the United States *Capitan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community *Capitan, New Mexico, a village ...
*
Captain (disambiguation) Captain is a rank or title for commander of a military unit, commander of a ship or other vessel, or leader of a unit or organization. Captain or The Captain may also refer to: Rank *Captain (armed forces), a commissioned officer rank historical ...
* El Capitan (disambiguation) *
Catepanate of Serbia The Catepanate of Ras ( Byzantine Greek: ) was a province ( catepanate) of the Byzantine Empire, established around 971 in central regions of early medieval Serbia, during the rule of Byzantine Emperor John Tzimiskes (969–976). The catepanate ...


References


Sources

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Further reading

* {{Italic title Byzantine military offices Greek words and phrases Late Roman military ranks