Katepano

[[File:Byzantine Empire Themes 1025-en.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire in 1025. The regional eastern commands, variously under ''doukes'' or ''katepano'', are outlined. Southern Italy was under the authority of the ''katepano'' of Italy, while Bulgaria, Serbia and [[Paristrion]] were often under the authority of a single ''katepano''.]] The '''''katepánō''''' ({{langx|el|κατεπάνω}}, {{lit|[the one] placed at the top|the topmost}}) was a senior [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy|military rank and office]]. The word was [[Latin]]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]] term ''[[wikt:captain|captain]]'' and its equivalents in other languages ([[wikt:capitan|Capitan]], [[wikt:kapitan|Kapitan]], [[Kapitän]], Capitán, Capitano, [[Kapudan Pasha]], 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 navy|Byzantine naval]] theme of the [[Cibyrrhaeots]] in southern [[Asia Minor]].{{sfn|ODB|loc="Katepano" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1115–1116}} 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 ''[[Theme (Byzantine district)|thema]]ta'', and grouped together to form large regional commands, headed either by a ''[[dux|doux]]'' ("duke") or a ''katepanō''.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1999|pp=84–85}}.</ref> These were the ducates/katepanates<ref>Note that the original Byzantine term for a territory ruled by a ''katepanō'' was ''katepanikion''. The term katepanate/catepanate, used in modern scholarship, is of recent origin. ({{harvnb|ODB|loc="Katepano" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1115–1116}}.)</ref> of [[Antioch]], covering the south-eastern frontier in northern [[Syria]], of [[Mesopotamia]] in the east around the [[Euphrates]], and of [[Chaldia]] in the north-east.<ref name="Holmes">{{harvnb|Holmes|2005|pp=301–302}}.</ref> During the reign of Emperor [[Basil II]] (r. 976–1025), the eastern border was further expanded, and the katepanate of [[Iberia (theme)|Iberia]] was established in 1022.

In the West, the most famous katepanate, that of [[Catepanate of Italy|southern Italy]], is attested in the ''[[Escorial Taktikon]]'', a list of offices compiled circa 971–975, and after the successful conclusion of the [[Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars]], a ''katepanō'' of [[Bulgaria]] is also attested.<ref name="Holmes"/> A [[Catepanate of Serbia|Serbian catepanate]] is also attested, which was known as the [[Catepanate of Ras|"''katepano'' of Ras]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Krsmanović|2008|pp=186, 189}}.</ref>

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 period|Komnenian]] and [[Palaiologan period|Palaiologan]] periods, the term ''katepanikion'' thus comes to denote low-level administrative areas, both in Asia Minor (including the [[Empire of Trebizond]]) and [[Europe]].{{sfn|ODB|loc="Katepano" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1115–1116}}

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 ''[[Kephale (Byzantine Empire)|kephalē]]'' (Greek: κεφαλή, "head"), who had supreme civil and military authority within its bounds.<ref>{{harvnb|Bartusis|1997|pp=33–34, 189–190, 236}}.</ref> Like many other Byzantine institutions, the ''katepanikion'' as an administrative subdivision was also adopted in the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]].

==See also== {{Portal|Byzantine Empire}} * [[Capitan (disambiguation)]] * [[Captain (disambiguation)]] * [[El Capitan (disambiguation)]] * [[Catepanate of Serbia]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin|30em}} * {{cite book|last=Bartusis|first=Mark C.|title=The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=1997|isbn=0-8122-1620-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUs-hHd89xAC}} * {{Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565–1204}} * {{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Catherine|title=Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025)|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19-927968-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_h3_c0U1jVoC}} * {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|ref={{harvid|ODB}}}} * {{Cite book|last=Krsmanović|first=Bojana|title=The Byzantine Province in Change: On the Threshold Between the 10th and the 11th Century|year=2008|location=Belgrade|publisher=Institute for Byzantine Studies |isbn=9789603710608|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjsjAQAAIAAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|author-link=George Ostrogorsky|year=1956|title=History of the Byzantine State|location=Oxford|publisher=Basil Blackwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ}} * {{Cite book|last=Runciman|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Runciman|title=The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium|year=1988|orig-year=1929|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521357227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHVzWN6gqxQC}} {{refend}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite journal|last=Glykatzi-Ahrweiler|first=Hélène|author-link=Helene Ahrweiler|title=Recherches sur l'administration de l'empire byzantin aux IX-XIème siècles|journal=Bulletin de correspondance hellénique|year=1960|volume=84|issue=1|pages=1–111|language=fr|doi=10.3406/bch.1960.1551}} {{refend}}

[[Category:Byzantine military offices]] [[Category:Greek words and phrases]] [[Category:Late Roman military ranks]]