# Katepano

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Senior Byzantine military rank

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](/source/Paristrion) were often under the authority of a single *katepano*.

The ***katepánō*** ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): κατεπάνω, lit. '[the one] placed at the top' or 'the topmost') was a senior [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Empire) [military rank and office](/source/Byzantine_bureaucracy_and_aristocracy). The word was [Latinized](/source/Latin) 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](/source/English_language) term *[captain](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/captain)* and its equivalents in other languages ([Capitan](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/capitan), [Kapitan](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kapitan), [Kapitän](/source/Kapit%C3%A4n), Capitán, Capitano, [Kapudan Pasha](/source/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](/source/Mardaites) marine detachments of the [Byzantine naval](/source/Byzantine_navy) theme of the [Cibyrrhaeots](/source/Cibyrrhaeots) in southern [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor).[1] 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](/source/Theme_(Byzantine_district))*, and grouped together to form large regional commands, headed either by a *[doux](/source/Dux)* ("duke") or a *katepanō*.[2] These were the ducates/katepanates[3] of [Antioch](/source/Antioch), covering the south-eastern frontier in northern [Syria](/source/Syria), of [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia) in the east around the [Euphrates](/source/Euphrates), and of [Chaldia](/source/Chaldia) in the north-east.[4] During the reign of Emperor [Basil II](/source/Basil_II) (r. 976–1025), the eastern border was further expanded, and the katepanate of [Iberia](/source/Iberia_(theme)) was established in 1022.

In the West, the most famous katepanate, that of [southern Italy](/source/Catepanate_of_Italy), is attested in the *[Escorial Taktikon](/source/Escorial_Taktikon)*, a list of offices compiled circa 971–975, and after the successful conclusion of the [Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars](/source/Byzantine%E2%80%93Bulgarian_Wars), a *katepanō* of [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria) is also attested.[4] A [Serbian catepanate](/source/Catepanate_of_Serbia) is also attested, which was known as the ["*katepano* of Ras](/source/Catepanate_of_Ras)".[5]

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](/source/Komnenian_period) and [Palaiologan](/source/Palaiologan_period) periods, the term *katepanikion* thus comes to denote low-level administrative areas, both in Asia Minor (including the [Empire of Trebizond](/source/Empire_of_Trebizond)) and [Europe](/source/Europe).[1]

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](/source/Kephale_(Byzantine_Empire))* (Greek: κεφαλή, "head"), who had supreme civil and military authority within its bounds.[6] Like many other Byzantine institutions, the *katepanikion* as an administrative subdivision was also adopted in the [Second Bulgarian Empire](/source/Second_Bulgarian_Empire).

## See also

- [Byzantine Empire portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Byzantine_Empire)

- [Capitan (disambiguation)](/source/Capitan_(disambiguation))

- [Captain (disambiguation)](/source/Captain_(disambiguation))

- [El Capitan (disambiguation)](/source/El_Capitan_(disambiguation))

- [Catepanate of Serbia](/source/Catepanate_of_Serbia)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEODB"Katepano"_(A._Kazhdan),_pp._1115–1116_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEODB"Katepano"_(A._Kazhdan),_pp._1115–1116_1-1) [ODB](#CITEREFODB), "Katepano" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1115–1116.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Haldon 1999](#CITEREFHaldon1999), pp. 84–85.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** 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. ([ODB](#CITEREFODB), "Katepano" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1115–1116.)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Holmes_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Holmes_4-1) [Holmes 2005](#CITEREFHolmes2005), pp. 301–302.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Krsmanović 2008](#CITEREFKrsmanović2008), pp. 186, 189.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Bartusis 1997](#CITEREFBartusis1997), pp. 33–34, 189–190, 236.

## Sources

- Bartusis, Mark C. (1997). [*The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453*](https://books.google.com/books?id=rUs-hHd89xAC). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8122-1620-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8122-1620-2).

- [Haldon, John](/source/John_Haldon) (1999). [*Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565–1204*](https://archive.org/details/warfarestatesoci0000hald/). London: UCL Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-85728-495-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85728-495-X).

- Holmes, Catherine (2005). [*Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025)*](https://books.google.com/books?id=_h3_c0U1jVoC). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-927968-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-927968-5).

- [Kazhdan, Alexander](/source/Alexander_Kazhdan), ed. (1991). *[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Byzantium)*. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-504652-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-504652-8).

- Krsmanović, Bojana (2008). [*The Byzantine Province in Change: On the Threshold Between the 10th and the 11th Century*](https://books.google.com/books?id=kjsjAQAAIAAJ). Belgrade: Institute for Byzantine Studies. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789603710608](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789603710608).

- [Ostrogorsky, George](/source/George_Ostrogorsky) (1956). [*History of the Byzantine State*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

- [Runciman, Steven](/source/Steven_Runciman) (1988) [1929]. [*The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XHVzWN6gqxQC). Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521357227](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521357227).

## Further reading

- [Glykatzi-Ahrweiler, Hélène](/source/Helene_Ahrweiler) (1960). "Recherches sur l'administration de l'empire byzantin aux IX-XIème siècles". *Bulletin de correspondance hellénique* (in French). **84** (1): 1–111. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3406/bch.1960.1551](https://doi.org/10.3406%2Fbch.1960.1551).

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v t e Greek terms for administrative divisions Modern Decentralised Administrations Region Regional Unit Municipality Municipal Unit Community Defunct General Administrations Prefecture (Super-Prefecture, Prefectural Department) Province Municipal Department Communal Department Municipal Community Local Community Historical archontia/archontaton bandon demos despotaton dioikesis doukaton droungos eparchia exarchaton katepanikion kephalatikion kleisoura meris naukrareia satrapeia strategis thema toparchia tourma

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Katepano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katepano) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katepano?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.