Princeps (plural:
principes) is a
Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."
This article is devoted to a number of specific historical meanings the word took, in approximate historical order.
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.
The word "Princeps" derived from
Princeps Senatus ("
Primus inter pares" of the
Senate). It was first given to the
Caesar 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).
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.
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.
- 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
Princeps is also the (official) short version of
Princeps officii, the chief of an officium (the office staff of a Roman dignitary) -
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.
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.
Non-Roman meaning
"Princeps" is also the name of an obsolete genus of
Swallowtail butterflies (now merged with the genus
Papilio).
Fiction
- Princeps is the name of a dog that Brother Priad meets in the Warhammer 40,000 book Brothers of the Snake.
- 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. It is also used in the title of the fifth book in the series, Princeps' Fury.
