Greek epithet for one exercising absolute power, unrestrained by superiors
Autokrator or Autocrator (
Greek: αὐτοκράτωρ, autokrátōr,
lit. "self-ruler," "one who rules by himself," whence English "autocrat," from αὐτός, autós, 'self' + κράτος, krátos, 'dominion, power';
pl.αὐτοκράτορες, autokrátores) is a Greek
epithet applied to an individual who is unrestrained by superiors. It has been applied to military commanders-in-chief as well as
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 its feminine form is autokráteira (αὐτοκράτειρα).
Ancient Greece
The title appeared in
Classical Greece in the late 5th century BC, and was used for generals given independent authority, i.e. a supreme commander (στρατηγὸς αὐτοκράτωρ, stratēgòs autokrátōr). In
Classical Athens, stratēgoì autokrátores 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 the
Sicilian 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. Stratēgoì autokrátores were also appointed by various leagues of city-states to head their combined armies. Thus
Philip II of Macedon was declared as hēgemṓn (ἡγεμών, 'leader') and stratēgòs autokrátōr 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 (πρέσβεις αὐτοκράτορες, présbeis autokrátores, "elder autocrats").[4]
In the
Iranian languages, the term
*hwatā́wā 'lord, sovereign; (literally) self-ruler' might be an intentional calque from Greek autokrátōr[5] (presumably arisen in the
Hellenistic period).
Rome and Byzantium
In later times, with the rise of the
Roman Republic, [stratēgòs] autokrátōr was used by Greek historians to translate different Roman terms:
Polybius uses the term to translate the title dictator,[6] while
Plutarch uses it in its later sense as a translation of the
victory titleimperator. Autokrátōr became entrenched as the official translation of the latter during the
Roman Empire, where imperator was part of the titulature of the
Roman emperors. As such it continued to be used in Greek translations from Latin until the adoption of the Greek title basileús by Emperor
Heraclius in 629.[7]
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 basileùs [kaì] autokrátōr (βασιλεὺς [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.[7] The term stratēgòs autokrátōr 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.[8] Thus, for instance,
Basil II installed
David Arianites as stratēgòs autokrátōr of
Bulgaria, implying powers of command over the other regional stratēgoí in the northern Balkans.[9]
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.
Ottoman sultanBayezid II titled himself "by the grace of God, basileus and autokrator of the two continents of Asia and Europe and other possessions".[10]
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).[12]
Similarly, when the
Serbian king
Stefan Dušan claimed the imperial title in 1345/46, he used the title "basileus and autokrator 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.[13]
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).
^Meillet, Antoine (1911). "Sur les mots iraniens empruntés par l'arménien". Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique de Paris (in French). 17: 242–250. (repr. in: Études de linguistique et de philologie arméniennes II, Louvain, 1977, pp. 142–150)
^Stephenson, Paul (2003). The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Cambridge University Press. p. 39.
ISBN978-0-521-81530-7.
^Gábor Ágoston (2023). The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe. p. 335.
^Lordkipanidze, Mariam Davydovna; Hewitt, George B. (1987), Georgia in the XI-XII Centuries, Ganatleba Publishers: Tbilisi.
^Božilov, Ivan (2011). "La Bulgarie". In
Laiou, Angeliki E.;
Morrisson, Cécile (eds.). Le monde byzantin, Tome III: Byzance et ses voisins : 1204–1453 (in French). Presses universitaires de France. pp. 343–354 (esp. 345, 346–348).
ISBN978-2-13-052008-5.
^Maksimović, Ljubomir (2011). "La Serbie: pouvoir et organisation sociale". In Laiou, Angeliki E.; Morrisson, Cécile (eds.). Le monde byzantin, Tome III: Byzance et ses voisins : 1204–1453 (in French). Presses universitaires de France. pp. 323–342 (esp. 333–336).
ISBN978-2-13-052008-5.
Ostrogorsky, George (1970). "Avtokrator i samodržac". Sabrana Dela. IV. Beograd: 321–338.
Ostrogorsky, George (1935). "Avtokrator i Samodržac: Prilog za istorju vladalačke titulature u Vizantiji i u južnih Slovena". Glas. 84. Srpska kraljevska Akademija: 95–187.