
The ''katepánō'' ( el, κατεπάνω, lit. "
he oneplaced at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
military rank and office. The word was
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
ized 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
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...
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
Kapitän is the German word for Captain. It is also a shortened version of several ranks in the German navy, ranging from Korvettenkapitän to Kapitän zur See. The general meaning is equivalent to Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for ...
, El Capitán, Il Capitano,
Kapudan Pasha
The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was base ...
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 centuri ...
in southern
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
. 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
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...
, covering the south-eastern frontier in northern
Syria, of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
in the east around the
Euphrates, 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
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar ...
(r. 976–1025), the eastern border was further expanded, and the katepanate of
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a la ...
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'', a list of offices compiled circa 971–975, and after the successful conclusion of the
Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantine Empire, Byzantines and Bulgarians which began when the Bulgars first settled in the Balkan peninsula in the 5th century, and intensified with the expansion of ...
, a ''katepanō'' of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...
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 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 t ...
) and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
.
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 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 and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conqu ...
.
See also
*
Capitan (disambiguation)
*
Captain (disambiguation)
*
El Capitan (disambiguation) El Capitan (accented Capitán, "The Captain" in Spanish) is the name of a rock formation in Yosemite National Park, California.
El Capitan may also refer to:
Locations
* Agathla Peak, a peak south of Monument Valley, Arizona, is also known as E ...
*
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 catepanat ...
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{Italic title
Byzantine military offices
Greek words and phrases
Late Roman military ranks