Imperator
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2023) |
Politics of ancient Rome |
|---|
 |
| Periods |
|
| Constitution |
| Political institutions |
| Assemblies |
|
| Ordinary magistrates |
| Extraordinary magistrates |
| Public law |
| Senatus consultum ultimum |
| Titles and honours |
_43.jpg)
The title of imperator (
Imperatores in the ancient Roman Kingdom
When Rome was ruled by kings,[1] to be able to rule, the king had to be invested with the full regal authority and power. So, after the
Imperatores in the Roman Republic
In Roman Republican literature and epigraphy, an imperator was a magistrate with imperium.[3] But also, mainly in the later Roman Republic and during the late Republican civil wars, imperator was the honorific title assumed by certain military commanders. After an especially great victory, an army's troops in the field would proclaim their commander imperator, an acclamation necessary for a general to apply to the Senate for a triumph. After being acclaimed imperator, the victorious general had a right to use the title after his name until the time of his triumph,[citation needed] where he would relinquish the title as well as his imperium.
Since a triumph was the goal of many politically ambitious Roman commanders, Roman Republican history is full of cases where
Imperator as an imperial title
After
As a title imperator was generally translated into Greek as
In the east, the title continued to be used into the Byzantine period, though to a lesser, and much more ceremonial, extent. In most Byzantine writings, the Greek translation "Autokrator" is preferred, but "Imperator" makes an appearance in Constantine IV's mid 7th century mosaic in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, and on various 9th century lead seals.
Use in East Rome and other post-Roman states
After the Roman empire collapsed in the West in the 5th century, Latin continued to be used as the official language of the
After 800, the imperator was used (in conjunction with augustus) as a formal Latin title in succession by the
In medieval Spain, the title imperator was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, but its usage peaked, as a formal and practical title, between 1086 and 1157. It was primarily used by the
Beginning in 1077 Alfonso instituted the use of the style ego Adefonsus imperator totius Hispaniae ("I, Alfonso, emperor of all Spain") and its use soon became regular.[7] This title was used throughout the period 1079–81, which represents the peak of his imperial pretensions before his capture of the city of Toledo, ancient capital of the Visigoths. In 1080 he introduced the form ego Adefonsus Hispaniarum imperator ("I, Alfonso, emperor of the Spains"), which he used again in 1090. His most elaborate imperial title was ego Adefonsus imperator totius Castelle et Toleto necnon et Nazare seu Alave ("I, Alfonso, emperor of all Castile and of Toledo also and of Nájera, or Álava").[8]
After the
Imperatrix
The term imperatrix seems not to have been used in Ancient Rome to indicate the consort of an imperator or later of an emperor. In the early years of the Roman Empire there was no standard title or honorific for the Emperor's wife, even the "Augusta" honorific was rather exceptionally granted, and not exclusively to wives of living emperors.
It is not clear when the feminine form of the Latin term imperator originated or was used for the first time. It usually indicates a reigning monarch, and is thus used in the Latin version of titles of modern reigning Empresses.
Likewise, when Fortuna is qualified "imperatrix mundi" in the Carmina Burana there's no implication of any type of consort — the term describes (the Goddess or personified) Fortune "ruling the world".
In Christian context, Imperatrix became a laudatory address to the Virgin Mary, in diverse forms at least since the Middle Ages — for example, she is sometimes called "Imperatrix angelorum" ("ruler of the angels").
Derivatives
Imperator is the root of most Romance languages's word for emperor. It is the root of the English word "emperor", which entered the language via the French empereur, while related adjectives like "imperial" were imported into English directly from Latin.
References
- ^ Rex.A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.
- ^ LacusCurtius • Roman Law — Auctor (Smith's Dictionary, 1875)
- ^ Rivero (2006).
- ^ The Oxford Classical Dictionary, entry 'Imperator', Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 1996.
- ^ Ampelius 31 with Mackay (2000), pp. 178–93.
- ^ Tacitus, The Annals 1.58
- ^ Reilly 1988, 137.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 214.
- ISBN 9781139136952. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
Bibliography
- Combès, Robert (1966). Imperator : Recherches sur l'emploi et la signification du titre d'Imperator dans la Rome républicaine. Paris: Presses universitaires de France; Publications de la Faculté des Lettres et Sciences humaines de l’Université de Montpellier. Archived from the original on 2010-12-30. 489 p.
- Rivero, Pilar (2006). Imperator Populi Romani: una aproximación al poder republicano. Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico. 514 p. (Biblioteca virtual at http://ifc.dpz.es).