''Lochagos'' (; abbreviated ) is used in the Greek language to mean "

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

". More precisely, it means "leader of a ''

lochos A ''lochos'', plural ''lochoi'' (; pl. ), is a tactical sub unit of Classical Greece and of the modern Greek army. The term derived from the ancient Greek for ambush and the men carrying out the ambush, but in practice, its meaning was essential ...

''". The equivalent term in the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

Armour & Cavalry is .

Ancient and Byzantine use

The term has been used since the times of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, where the place of the rank in the military hierarchy differed from

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

to city-state. For example,

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

reported that a ''lochagos'' of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

served under a

polemarch A polemarch (, from , ''polémarchos'') was a senior military title in various ancient Greek city states ('' poleis''). The title is derived from the words '' polemos'' ('war') and ''archon'' ('ruler, leader') and translates as 'warleader' or 'wa ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

reported that his counterpart in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

served under a '' taxiarchos''. In military manuals, the file is often called a

and as such its leader is also called a lochagos. Asclepiodotus, Tactica, 1.2 Thus, the lochagos can also be the promachos protostates. The rank of ''lochagos'' could also represent an officer roughly equivalent to that a

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

. The term was however also used by later writers to describe the civilian leader of a

curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

. The rank was still in use in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, although more usually, the term ''hecatontarch'' was used, a calque of the Latin ''centurio''. Certain early Byzantine units such as the infantry ''auxilia'' and the cavalry ''Scholae'' lacked centurions and decurions, but had ''centenarii'' and ''decenarii'' instead. These are mentioned both in the

Strategikon of Maurice The ''Strategikon'' or ''Strategicon'' () is a Byzantine military manuals, manual of war regarded as written in late antiquity (6th century) and generally attributed to the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (emperor), Maurice. Overview The work is a ...

and by

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

Warren Treadgold Warren T. Treadgold (born April 30, 1949, Oxford, England) is an American historian and specialist in Byzantine studies. He is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Byzantine Studies at Saint Louis University. His interest in the p ...

interprets these to be a type of junior and senior centurion, a designation based on seniority and experience, not a distinction in rank.

Modern use

In the modern

the rank is superior to an ''

Ypolochagos Army-GRE-OF-01a

''Ypolochagos'' () is used in the modern Greek langu ...

'' (

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

) and inferior to an '' Tagmatarchis'' (

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

). The insignia consists of three silver stars.

Rank insignia

File:GR-Army-OF2-1912.svg, Rank insignia of a ''Lochagos'', 1908–1936 File:GR-Army-OF2-1937.svg, Rank insignia of a ''Lochagos'', 1937–1970 File:Army-GRE-OF-02.svg, Current rank insignia of a ''Lochagos'', since 1970

References

Military ranks of Greece Military ranks of ancient Greece Ancient Greek military terminology {{Greece-mil-stub