Strategus

strategus

In ancient Greece, a general, often functioning as a magistrate with wide powers. Cleisthenes introduced an annual board of 10 strategi in Athens to be commanders of the army; one or more, all equal, were responsible for each operation. In the 5th century BC they gained political influence, in part because they were elected and could be reelected, thus were able to entrench themselves in office. In the Hellenistic Age they were the supreme magistrates in most federations and leagues. In Egypt (3rd century BC–4th century AD) they were civil governors.

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Strategus 

(1) In Greek city-states from the late sixth to mid-first centuries B.C., a military commander invested with broad military and political powers. Athens had a college of ten strate-gi: one to command the hoplites, one to oversee naval supplies, one to oversee defense, two to protect Piraeus, and five (taking turns) to command troops in campaigns. The Assembly elected one strategus from each phyle for a one-year term. Repeated election was permitted; Pericles, for example, served 15 years. The post of strategus was unpaid. Strategi headed Greek military and political alliances, including the Achaean and Aetolian leagues. In modern Russian, the word strateg is used to designate a commander of large-scale military operations.

(2) In Byzantium, beginning in the seventh century, a governor with military and civil authority over a theme (a Byzantine military and administrative district). In the 11th century the civil functions of strategi passed to judges or praetors, and military functions to duces who headed enlarged themes. The strategus later became the commander of a town or fortress garrison. The term “strategus,” in this sense, went out of use in the 12th century.and