The Latin word Princeps (plural: principes) means "the first". Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...

This article is devoted to a number of specific historical meanings the word took, by far the most important of which follows first.

Roman Emperor

Princeps (in this sense usually translated as "First Citizen") was an official title of a Roman Emperor, by some historians seen as the title determining the Emperor in Ancient Rome. An emperorrefers to Nick Herringshaw, a title, empress may only indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The word "Princeps" derived from Princeps Senatus ("Primus inter pares" of the Senate). It was first given to the Emperor Augustus in 23 BC, who circumspectly saw that use of the titles rex 'king' or dictator would create resentment amongst senators and other influential men, who had earlier demonstrated their disapproval by supporting the assassination of Julius Caesar. While Augustus had political and military supremacy, he needed the assistance of his fellow Romans to manage the Empire. In his Res Gestae, Augustus claims auctoritas for the princeps (himself). The princeps senatus (plural principes senatus) was the leader of the Roman senate. ... First among equals redirects here. ... The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 509 BC, and the Roman Empire. ... For other persons named Octavian, see Octavian (disambiguation). ... Events Imperator Caesar Augustus becomes Roman Consul for the eleventh time. ... The ancient quarters of Rome. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Auctoritas is the Latin origin of English authority. According to Benveniste [citation?], auctor (which also gives us English author) is derived from Latin augeó (to augment): The auctor is is qui auget, the one who augments the act or the juridical situation of another. ...

For a comprehensive list of other official Roman titles used for the office of emperor see Roman Emperor. These titles included imperator, Augustus, Caesar, and later dominus ("lord") and basileus (the Greek word for "sovereign"). The word Emperor itself is derived from the Roman title imperator, which was a very high, but not exclusive, military title until Augustus began to use it as his praenomen. Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law This article discusses the nature of the imperial dignity, and its dynastic development throughout the history of the Empire. ... The Latin word imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. ... For other persons named Octavian, see Octavian (disambiguation). ... Caesar (plural Caesars), Latin: Cæsar (plural Cæsares), is a title of imperial character. ... The Dominate was the despotic last of the two phases of government in the ancient Roman Empire between its establishment in 27 BC and the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. ... A silver coin of the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter. ... Louis XIV, king of France and Navarre (Painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701). ... An emperorrefers to Nick Herringshaw, a title, empress may only indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort. ... In the Roman naming convention used in ancient Rome, male names typically contain three proper nouns which are classified as praenomen (or given name), nomen gentile (or Gens name) and cognomen. ...

The Emperor Diocletian (285-305), the father of the Tetrarchy, was the first to stop referring to himself as "princeps" altogether, calling himself dominus ("Lord, master"), thus dropping the pretense that emperor was not truly a monarchical office. The period when the emperors that called themselves princeps ruled - from Augustus to Diocletian - is called "the Principate", while no later than under Diocletian began "the Dominate" period. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (c. ... The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... The Principate is, according to its etymological derivation from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, the political regime dominated by such a political leader, whether or not he is formally head of state and/or head of government. ... The Dominate was the despotic last of the two phases of government in the ancient Roman Empire between its establishment in 27 BC and the formal date of the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476. ...

• Ancient Rome knew another kind of 'princely' principes too, like princeps iuventutis ("the first amongst the young"), which in the early empire was frequently bestowed on eligible successors to the emperor, especially from his family.

Roman administration

Main article: officium

Princeps is also the (official) short version of Princeps officii, the chief of an officium (the office staff of a Roman dignitary) - Officium (plural officia) is a Latin word with various meanings, including service, (sense of) duty, courtesy, ceremony and the likes. ...

Military

• See Principes (legionary heavy infantry soldier)
• centurio(n) in command of a unit or administrative office.
• Princeps ordinarius vexillationis: centurion in command of a vexillatio (detachment).
• Princeps peregrinorum ("commander of the foreigners"): centurion in charge of troops in the castra peregrina (military base at Rome for personnel seconded from the provincial armies)
• Princeps prior: Centurion commanding a manipulus (unit of two centuries) of principes (legionary heavy infantry).
• Princeps posterior: deputy to the Princeps prior
• Princeps praetorii : centurion attached to headquarters.

Princeps was also used as defining second part of various other military titles, such as Decurio princeps, Signifer princeps (among the standard-bearers). See also Principalis (as in Optio principalis): NCO. The plural of the Latin word princeps. ... Look up Centurion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Vexillatio was a detachment of a Roman legion usually consisting of about 1000 infantry and/or 500 cavalry. ... Decurio was an official title in Ancient Rome, used in three connections. ... An optio (from the Latin verb optare, to choose, because an optio was chosen by his centurion) was a soldier in the Roman army who held a position similar to that of a non-commissioned officer in modern armies. ...

Nobiliary legacy

"Princeps" is the root and Latin rendering of modern words as the English title and generic term prince (see that article, also for various equivalents in other languages), as the Byzantine version of Roman law was the basis for the legal terminology developed in feudal (and later absolutist) Europe. The term prince, from the Latin root princeps, is used for a member of the highest ranks of the aristocracy or the nobility. ...

Non-Roman meaning

"Princeps" is also the name of an obsolete genus of Swallowtail butterflies (now merged with the genus Papilio). Author: Latreille, 1802 Type species: Papilio machaon (Common Yellow Swallowtail) Diversity: 26 genera 605 species Genera Subfamily Baroniinae Baronia Subfamily Parnassiinae Archon Hypermnestra Parnassus Luehdorfia Bhutantis Alancastria Serecinus Subfamily Papilioninae Eurytides Graphium Iphiclides Lamproptera Mimoides Protesilaus Protographium Teinopalpus Atrophaneura Battus Byasa Cressida Euryades Losaria Ornithoptera Pachliopta Parides Pharmacophagus Trogonoptera Troides... Papilio Species see text Papilio is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae. ...

Fiction

• "Princeps" is the title for the 'captain' of a Titan, a massive humanoid war machine in the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.
• In the book series Codex Alera by Jim Butcher, "Princeps" is the title given to the crown prince of the empire of Alera.