# Aspet

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{{Short description|Hereditary military title}}
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'''''Aspet''''' ({{Langx|hy|Ասպետ}}; {{langx|grc|Ἀσπέτης}}, ''Aspetes'' in contemporary Greek) was a hereditary military title of the [Armenian nobility](/source/Armenian_nobility), usually found within the [Bagratuni family](/source/Bagratuni_Dynasty).<ref name="Cyril">[Toumanoff, Cyril](/source/Toumanoff%2C_Cyril) (1963), ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History III'', pp. 202, 324-26. [Georgetown University Press](/source/Georgetown_University_Press).</ref>

The name has been derived from either the [Old Persian](/source/Old_Persian) *viθa/visapati "head of the clan",<ref>[Nicholas Adontz](/source/Nicholas_Adontz), ''Armenia in the Period of Justinian'', tr. and rev. by N. Garsoïan, Lisbon, 1970, p. 312</ref> or in more likelihood aspapati, later ''[aspbed](/source/aspbed)'' (or aspbad)<ref>[Joseph Markwart](/source/Joseph_Markwart), ''Die Genealogie der Bagratiden und das Zeitalter der [Mar Abas](/source/Mar_Abas_Katina) und Ps. [Moses Xorenaci](/source/Movses_Khorenatsi),'' Caucasica 6/2, 1930, p. 68</ref><ref>[Johann Heinrich Hübschmann](/source/Johann_Heinrich_H%C3%BCbschmann), Armenische Etymologie, p. 109</ref> which designated the Iranian office of Master of the Horse (commander of the cavalry). The Armenian army was comprised overwhelmingly of cavalry, under the command of the High Constable (''[sparapet](/source/sparapet)''), this left no room for a Master of the Horse. There are hardly any references by Armenian historians of the [Arshakuni](/source/Arshakuni) period to any Bagratids in command of the king's forces. Like the ''małxaz'' of the [Khorkhoruni](/source/Khorkhoruni) family, ''aspet'' seems to have been a special, gentilitial, title of the Bagratunis, who derived from it their other, short-lived, name of Aspetuni.<ref name="Cyril"/> This title disappears following the [Arab conquest of Armenia](/source/Arab_conquest_of_Armenia). The existence of this title and name may possibly be due to Arsacid Armenia's imitation of Parthia, where one of the [Seven Great Houses](/source/Seven_Parthian_clans) bore the name of [Aspahbad](/source/House_of_Ispahbudhan).<ref name="Cyril"/>

The name of the [Aspietai](/source/Aspietes), a Byzantine noble family of Armenian origin, is derived from ''aspet''.

In modern Armenian historiography, the word ''aspet'' also refers to medieval European [knights](/source/Knight).<ref>{{Cite dictionary |year=1969 |title=Aspet |encyclopedia=Zhamanakakitsʻ hayotsʻ lezvi batsʻatrakan baṛaran [Explanatory Dictionary of Contemporary Armenian] |publisher=[Haykakan SSH Gitutʻyunneri akademiayi hratarakchʻutʻyun](/source/Armenian_National_Academy_of_Sciences) |location=Erevan |url=http://nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=29&dt=HY_HY&pageNumber=200 |volume=1 |page=188 |language=hy}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = ASPET | last = Toumanoff | first = Cyril | author-link = Cyril Toumanoff | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/aspet-armenian-title-in-contemporary-greek-documents-also-aspetes-hereditary-in-the-bagratuni-bagratid-family | editor-last = | editor-first =  | editor-link = | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 8 | page = 792 | location = | publisher = | year = 1987 | isbn = }}

Armenia
Category:Armenian noble titles
Category:Armenian military ranks of Parthian origin

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