imperator

Imperator is a Latin term meaning commander, derived from the verb imperare, to command. In its early use, imperator functioned as a military honorific rather than a formal office. It signified that the bearer held supreme command in war and could be conferred by the army or the Senate on a victorious general.

In the Roman Republic, imperator was granted to generals who achieved notable military success. It served as an unofficial testament to their authority in the field and could accompany a commander’s name. Although it reflected real power, it did not by itself create a constitutional office, and multiple commanders could be styled imperator during a single conflict.

With the transition to the Roman Empire, imperator became integral to imperial titulature. Octavian, who became Augustus, used imperator as a key element of his political image, reinforcing the continuity between military command and imperial authority. From then on, emperors often bore imperator as part of their official style, highlighting their ultimate command in war and their unity over civil power. The title persisted in Latin sources and coinage throughout the later empire, sometimes in combination with Caesar and Augustus, and it remained a symbol of supreme authority even as doctrinal and administrative functions evolved.

Legacy and terminology: imperator is the ancestor of the modern word emperor. In English and many other languages, emperor denotes a sovereign ruler of an empire, a development that arose from the imperial use of imperator as Rome’s supreme military and political authority. In late antiquity, the term faded as basileus and other titles gained prominence in different traditions, though its echo remained in the imperial concept.