In the Roman Empire, an eparchy was one of the political subdivisions of the Empire. [Some specifics are needed here.] The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ...
In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern-rite Catholicism, an eparchy is the jurisdiction of a bishop, corresponding to what in the West is called a diocese. ... The term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keep the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church - the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus - and rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ...
The term survives as one of the administrative units of modern Greece, the country being divided into nomarchies, subdivided into eparchies, again sub-divided into demarchies (see GREECE: Local Administration).
Eparch and eparchy are also used in the Russian Orthodox Church for a bishop and his diocese respectively,EPAULETTE (a French word, from paule, a shoulder), properly a shoulder-piece, and so applied to the shoulder-knot ofribbon to which a scapulary was attached, worn by members of areligious order.
The military usage was probably derived fromthe metal plate (pauliire) which protected the shoulder in the defensive armour of the 16th century.