Autokrator

Autokratōr (Greek: αὐτοκράτωρ, autokrátor, pl. αὐτοκράτορες, autokrátores,

Ancient Greek pronunciation[autokrátɔːr], Byzantine pronunciation[aftoˈkrator] lit.
"self-ruler", "one who rules by himself", from αὐτός and κράτος) is a Greek epithet
applied to an individual who exercises absolute power, unrestrained by superiors. In
a historical context, it has been applied to military commanders-in-chief, and to
Roman and Byzantine emperors as the translation of the Latin title imperator. Its
connection with Byzantine-style absolutism gave rise to the modern terms autocrat
and autocracy. In modern Greek, it means "emperor", and the female form of the
title is autokrateira (αὐτοκράτειρα, autokráteira, "empress").

Contents
Ancient Greece
Rome and Byzantium
Other Nations
References
Further reading

Ivory plaque with Emperor

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos
Ancient Greece being crowned by Christ. The legend
reads: "Constantine, in God [faithful],
The title appeared in Classical Greece in the late 5th century BC, and was used for autokratōr and basileus of the
generals given independent authority, i.e. a supreme commander (stratēgos Romans.
autokratōr). In Classical Athens, stratēgoi autokratores were generals endowed with
autonomous power of command, i.e. they were able to make certain military and
diplomatic decisions without prior consultation with the Athenian assembly. This was enacted when the general was expected to
operate far from Athens, for instance during theSicilian Expedition. Nevertheless, the generals remained accountable to the assembly
for their conduct upon their return.[1] Similar practices were followed by other Greek states, such as Syracuse, where the post served
as a power base for several of the city's tyrants. Stratēgoi autokratores were also appointed by various leagues of city-states to head
their combined armies. ThusPhilip II of Macedon was declared as hēgemōn and stratēgos autokratōr of the southern Greek states by
the League of Corinth,[2] a position later given to his son Alexander the Great as well.[3] The term was also employed for envoys
entrusted with plenipotentiary powers (presbeis autokratores).[4]

Rome and Byzantium

In later times, with the rise of the Roman Republic, [stratēgos] autokratōr was used by Greek historians to translate different Roman
terms: Polybius uses the term to translate the titledictator,[5] while Plutarch uses it in its later sense as a translation of the victory title
imperator. Autokratōr became entrenched as the official translation of the latter during the Roman Empire, where imperator was part
of the titelature of the Roman emperors. As such it continued to be used in Greek translations from Latin until the adoption of the
Greek title basileus by Emperor Heraclius in 629.[6]

It was retained in archaic forms of address during ceremonies in the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire, and was revived (no later than
the early 9th century) in the form of basileus [kai] autokratōr (βασιλεύς [καὶ] αὐτοκράτωρ, usually translated as "emperor and
autocrat"), which then designated the senior of several ruling co-emperors (συμβασιλεῖς, symbasileis), who held the actual power. In
the Palaiologan period, this use was extended to include the designated heir. The title is evidenced in coins from 912, in imperial
chrysobulls from the 11th century, and in numerous illuminated manuscripts.[6] The term stratēgos autokratōr continued to be used in
the Byzantine period as well. The title is particularly prevalent in the 6th century (e.g. for Belisarius), and re-appears in the 10th-11th
centuries for senior military commanders.[7] Thus, for instance, Basil II installed David Arianites as stratēgos autokratōr of Bulgaria,
implying powers of command over the other regionalstratēgoi in the northern Balkans.[8]

Other Nations
The Byzantine imperial formula was imitated among the Byzantine influenced nations such as Georgia and Balkan states, and later,
most notably, the emerging Tsardom of Russia.

One of the titles of Georgian kings of Bagrationi dynasty was "Autocrat of all the east and the west", title introduced during David IV
and lasted until dissolution of the unified Georgian Kingdom at reign of George VIII, and later dissolution officially confirmed at
1490. The rulers of the Second Bulgarian Empire used the title "Emperor (Tsar) of the Bulgarians", in the early reigns with the
addition of "and the Vlachs", but Ivan Asen II (r. 1218–41), who after the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 expanded his control over
most of the Byzantine Empire's former European possessions, also adopted the title of "Tsar and autokrator of all the Bulgarians and
the Greeks", a title which had first been claimed by Prince Simeon I (r. 893–927).[9] Similarly, when the Serbian king Stefan Dušan
claimed the imperial title in 1345/46, he used the title "basileus and autokratōr of Serbia and of Romania" in Greek, and "Tsar of the
Serbs and Greeks" in Serbian. The use of "Romania" (i.e. the land of the Romans, the Byzantine Empire) and not the usual Byzantine
formula "of the Romans" signified that although he claimed the direct succession to all Byzantine emperors from the time of
Constantine the Great, he lacked possession of Constantinople and of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which alone conferred full
legitimacy.[10] Deriving from this usage, the Russian tsars, from the establishment of the Russian Empire up to the fall of the Russian
monarchy in 1917, used the formula "Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias". In the Slavic languages, the title was used in a
translated form (Bulgarian: самодържец, samodarzhets, Serbian: самодржац, samodržac; Russian: самодержец, samoderzhets).

References
1. Pritchett, William Kendrick (1974).The Greek state at war(https://books.google.com/books?id=IZHifHPsi20C)
.
University of California Press. p. 42.ISBN 978-0-520-02565-3.
2. Diodorus Siculus, XVI.89.1-3
3. Diodorus Siculus, XVII.4.9; Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, I.1.1-3
4. Andocides, On the Peace with Sparta
5. Polybius, Histories, III.86.7
6. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. p. 235.ISBN 978-0-19-
504652-6.
7. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. p. 1964.ISBN 978-0-19-
504652-6.
8. Stephenson, Paul (2003).The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Cambridge University Press. p. 39.ISBN 978-0-
521-81530-7.
9. Božilov, Ivan (2011). "La Bulgarie". In Laiou,Angeliki E.; Morrisson, Cécile.Le monde byzantin, Tome III: Byzance et
ses voisins : 1204-1453(in French). Presses universitaires de France. pp. 343–354 (esp. 345, 346–348). ISBN 978-
2-13-052008-5.
10. Maksimović, Ljubomir (2011). "La Serbie: pouvoir et organisation sociale". In Laiou, Angeliki E.; Morrisson, Cécile.
Le monde byzantin, Tome III: Byzance et sesvoisins : 1204-1453 (in French). Presses universitaires de France.
pp. 323–342 (esp. 333–336).ISBN 978-2-13-052008-5.

Further reading
Ostrogorski, G. (1970) Avtokrator i samodržac. Beograd, Sabrana dela, knjiga IV str. 321-338
Ferjančić, B. Samodržac. LSSV, str. 642-643
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