''Spaspet'' ( ka, სპასპეტი) was a feudal office in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

that originated in ancient Iberia. It is usually translated in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

High Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

. The institution of ''spaspet'', like its rough equivalent '' sparapet'' in neighboring

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, was designed under the influence of the

Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

spahbed ''Spāhbed'' (also spelled ''spahbod'' and ''spahbad'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbed'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Sasa ...

'', but differed in that it was a non-hereditary rank and included not only military, but also civil functions.Robert Bedrosian, "Sparapet", in: Joseph Reese Strayer (1983), ''

Dictionary of the Middle Ages The ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' is a 13-volume encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between 1982 and 1989. It was first conceived and started in 1975 with American medieval historian Jo ...

'', p. 460. Scribner, . According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the rank of ''spaspet'' was introduced by the first king P’arnavaz in the 3rd century BC. At the same time, it served as '' ex officio''

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

of Inner Iberia (Shida Kartli), around Mtskheta and Uplis-Tsikhe. It seems that this office was in fact occupied by the member of the Iberian royal family or an especially high dignitary next in seniority to the king. The Roman geographer Strabo (63/4 BC-AD 24) attests that in the royal hierarchy of Iberia "the second in line administers justice and commands the army." It is also possible to equate these dignitaries with the Iberian viceroys (''

pitiakhsh Bidaxsh (''bidakhsh'', also spelled Pitiakhsh; in Roman sources ''Vitaxa'') was a title of Iranian origin attested in various languages from the 1st to the 8th-century. It has no identical word in English, but it is similar to a margrave, toparch a ...

'') whose hereditary necropolis was uncovered in

Armazi Armazi ( ka, არმაზი) is a locale in Georgia, 4 km southwest of Mtskheta and 22 km northwest of Tbilisi. A part of historical Greater Mtskheta, it is a place where the ancient city of the same name and the original capital of the early ...

. David M. Lang, "Iran, Armenia and Georgia", in: W.B. Fischer, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshster (ed., 1993), ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p. 515.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, . The office, in a variously modified manner, survived into medieval and early modern Georgia down to the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

annexation early in the 19th century.

References

Military ranks of Georgia (country) Noble titles of Georgia (country) Military history of Georgia (country) Georgian words and phrases Georgian military ranks of Persian origin {{italic title

See also

References