Imperator

The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their authority on multiple titles and positions, rather than preferring any single title. Nevertheless, ''imperator'' was used relatively consistently as an element of a Roman ruler's title throughout the Principate and the later Roman Empire. It was abbreviated to "IMP" in inscriptions. The word derives from the stem of the verb , meaning 'to order, to command'. The English word ''emperor'' derives from ''imperator'' via .

''Imperatores'' in the ancient Roman Kingdom

When Rome was ruled by kings,
to be able to rule, the king had to be invested with the full regal authority and power. So, after the comitia curiata that was held to elect the king, the king also had to be conferred the imperium.

''Imperatores'' in the Roman Republic

In Roman Republican literature and epigraphy, an imperator was a magistrate with imperium. During the later Roman Republic and during the late Republican civil wars, ''imperator'' mainly was the honorific title assumed by certain military commanders. After an especially great victory, an army's troops in the field would proclaim their commander ''imperator'', an acclamation necessary for a general to apply to the Senate for a triumph. After being acclaimed ''imperator'', the victorious general had a right to use the title after his name until the time of his triumph, where he would relinquish the title as well as his imperium.

Since a triumph was the goal of many politically ambitious commanders, republican history is full of cases where legions were bribed to call their commander ''imperator''. The title of ''imperator'' was given firstly to Aemilius Paulus in 189 BC, for his campaigns against the Lusitanians from 191–89 BC. Next, it was given to Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 95 BC as governor or pro consul of the Cilician province for his returning of Ariobarzanes I to the Cappadocia throne. Then in 90 BC to Lucius Julius Caesar, in 84 BC to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, in 60 BC to Gaius Julius Caesar, relative of the previously mentioned Lucius Julius Caesar, during the 50s BC to Gaius Julius Caesar (in Gaul), in 45 BC again to Gaius Julius Caesar, in 43 BC to Decimus Junius Brutus, and in 41 BC to Lucius Antonius (younger brother and ally of the more famous Marcus Antonius). In AD 15 Germanicus was also ''imperator'' during the empire (see below) of his adoptive father Tiberius.

''Imperator'' as an imperial title

After Augustus established the Roman Empire, the title ''imperator'' was generally restricted to the emperor, although in the early years of the empire it would occasionally be granted to a member of his family. As a permanent title, ''imperator'' was used as a praenomen by the Roman emperors and was taken on accession. After the reign of Tiberius, the act of being proclaimed imperator was transformed into the act of imperial accession. In fact, if a general was acclaimed by his troops as ''imperator'', it would be tantamount to a declaration of rebellion against the ruling emperor. At first the term continued to be used in the Republican sense as a victory title, but attached to the ''de facto'' monarch and head of state, rather than the commander of the military. The title then followed the emperor's name along with the number of times he was acclaimed as such, for example ''IMP V'' ("imperator five times"). In time it became the title of the ''de facto'' monarch, pronounced upon (and synonymous with) their assumption.

As a title ''imperator'' was generally translated into Greek as '' autokrator'' ("one who rules oneself," also sometimes used as a translation for ''Roman dictators''). This was necessarily imprecise as it lost the nuances of Latin political thought contrasting ''imperium'' with other forms of public authority. Nevertheless, this title (along with '' sebastos'' for ''augustus'') was used in Greek-language texts for Roman emperors from the establishment of the empire.

In the east, the title continued to be used into the Byzantine period, although to a lesser, and much more ceremonial extent. In most Byzantine writings, the Greek translation "Autokrator" is preferred, but "Imperator" makes an appearance in Constantine IV's mid seventh century mosaic in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, and on various ninth century lead seals.

Use in eastern Rome and other post-Roman states

After the Roman empire collapsed in the West in the fifth century, Latin continued to be used as the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Roman emperors of this period (historiographically referred to as Byzantine emperors) were referred to as ''imperatores'' in Latin texts, while the word ''basileus'' (king) and ''autokrator'' (emperor) were used in Greek.

After 800, the ''imperator'' was used (in conjunction with ''augustus'') as a formal Latin title in succession by the Carolingian and German Holy Roman Emperors until 1806 and by the Austrian Emperors until 1918.

In medieval Spain, the title ''imperator'' was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onward, but its use peaked, as a formal and practical title, between 1086 and 1157. It primarily was used by the Kings of León and Castile, but it also found currency in the Kingdom of Navarre and was employed by the Counts of Castile and at least one Duke of Galicia. It signalled at various points the king's equality with the Byzantine Emperor and Holy Roman Emperor, his rule by conquest or military superiority, his rule over several people groups ethnic or religious, and his claim to suzerainty over the other kings of the peninsula, both Christian and Muslim.

Beginning in 1077, Alfonso instituted the use of the style ''ego Adefonsus imperator totius Hispaniae'' ("I, Alfonso, emperor of all Spain") and its use soon became regular. This title was used throughout the period 1079–81, which represents the peak of his imperial pretensions before his capture of the city of Toledo, ancient capital of the Visigoths. In 1080, he introduced the form ''ego Adefonsus Hispaniarum imperator'' ("I, Alfonso, emperor of the Spains"), which he used again in 1090. His most elaborate imperial title was ''ego Adefonsus imperator totius Castelle et Toleto necnon et Nazare seu Alave'' ("I, Alfonso, emperor of all Castile and of Toledo also and of Nájera, or Álava").García Gallo 1945, 214.

After the Ottoman Empire conquered both the Balkan peninsula ( Rumeli in Turkish meaning "lands of Rome") and Constantinople, the Turkish ruler acclaimed to be the Caesar of Rome (''sultan-ı iklim-i Rûm''). In the fifteenth century Bayezid II established diplomatic relations with some Christian European states, and sent a document to the King of Poland in which he used the titles ''Sultan Dei gratia Asie, Grecie etc. Imperator Maximus'' ("with help of God, emperor of Asia and Greece"). Like his predecessor, Selim I titled himself imperator in diplomatic correspondence (''per la Divina favente clementia Grande Imperator di Constantinopoli, di Asia, Europa, Persia, Syria et Egypto et Arabia et de li mari etc.'') due to his military successes.

''Imperatrix''

The term ''imperatrix'' seems not to have been used in Ancient Rome to indicate the wife of an imperator or later, of an emperor. In the early years of the Roman Empire there was no standard title or honorific for the emperor's wife, even the "Augusta" honorific was rather exceptionally granted, and not exclusively to wives of living emperors.

It is not clear when the feminine form of the Latin term ''imperator'' originated or was used for the first time. It usually indicates a ''reigning'' monarch, and is thus used in the Latin version of titles of modern reigning empresses.

When Fortuna is identified "imperatrix mundi" in the '' Carmina Burana'', the term describes the Goddess Fortune, or a personification of her, it is as the "ruler of the world".

The word ''imperatrix'', which did not exist in Latin, is deployed by Cicero for Clodia in 56 BC; only in the mid-fifth century AD is Pulcheria Augusta also imperatrix.

In Christian context, ''Imperatrix'' became a laudatory address to the Virgin Mary, in diverse forms at least since the Middle Ages — for example, she is sometimes called "Imperatrix angelorum" ("ruler of the angels").

Derivatives

''Imperator'' is the root for the word for emperor of most Romance languages. It is the root of the English word "emperor", which entered the language via the French ''empereur'', while related adjectives such as "imperial" were imported into English directly from Latin.

References

Bibliography

* 489 p.
* 514 p. (Biblioteca virtual at http://ifc.dpz.es).

{{Authority control
Ancient Roman titles
Military ranks of ancient Rome
Military awards and decorations of ancient Rome
Latin political words and phrases