Caesar (title)

Caesar
	Sculpture depiction of Julius Caesar
Pronunciation	English: /ˈsiːzər/ SEE-zər; Latin pronunciation: [ˈkae̯sar]
Gender	Male
Language(s)	Latin
Origin
Meaning	Emperor
Region of origin	Roman Empire
Other names
Variant form(s)	Καιϲαρ; Kaiser; Tsar; Qayser;
Popularity	see popular names

Caesar (Latin: [ˈkae̯.sar] English pl. Caesars; Latin pl. Caesares; in Greek: Καῖσαρ Kaîsar) is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, a Roman dictator. The change from being a familial name to a title adopted by the Roman emperors can be traced to AD 68, following the fall of the Julio–Claudian dynasty.

Origins

The first known individual to bear the cognomen of "Caesar" was Sextus Julius Caesar, who is likewise believed to be the common ancestor of all subsequent Julii Caesares.^[1] Sextus' great-grandson was the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. After he seized control of the Roman Republic following his war against the Senate, he adopted the title of dictator perpetuo ("dictator in perpetuity"), a title he only held for about a month before he was assassinated in 44 BC. Julius Caesar's death did not lead to the restoration of the Republic, and instead led to the rise of the Second Triumvirate, composed by three dictators including Julius' adopted son Gaius Octavius.

Following Roman naming conventions, Octavius adopted the name of his adoptive father, thus also becoming "Gaius Julius Caesar", though he was often called "Octavianus" to avoid confusion. He usually styled himself simply as "Gaius Caesar" to emphasize his relationship with Julius Caesar.^[2] Eventually, distrust and jealousy between the three dictators led to a lengthy civil war which ultimately ended with Octavius gaining control of the entire Roman world in 30 BC. In 27 BC, Octavius was given the honorific Augustus by the Senate, adopting the name of "Imperator Caesar Augustus". He had previously dropped all his names except for "Caesar", which he treated as a nomen (surname), and had adopted the title imperator ("commander") as a new praenomen (forename).

As a matter of course, Augustus' own adopted son and successor, Tiberius, followed his (step)father's example and bore the name "Caesar" following his adoption on 26 June 4 AD, restyling himself as "Tiberius Julius Caesar". Upon his own ascension to the throne, he styled himself as "Tiberius Caesar Augustus". The precedent was thus then set: the Emperor, styled as "Augustus", designated his successor by adopting him and giving him the name "Caesar".

The fourth Emperor, Claudius (in full "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus"), was the first to assume the name "Caesar" without having been adopted by the previous emperor; however, he was at least a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, being the maternal great-nephew of Augustus on his mother's side, the nephew of Tiberius, and the uncle of Caligula (also called "Gaius Julius Caesar"). Claudius, in turn, adopted his stepson and grand-nephew Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, giving him the name "Caesar" in addition to his own nomen, "Claudius", His stepson thus became "Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus".

Dynastic title

The first emperor to assume the position and name simultaneously without any real claim was Servius Sulpicius Galba, who took the imperial throne under the name "Servius Galba Caesar Augustus" following the death of Nero in AD 68. Galba helped solidify "Caesar" as the title of the designated heir by giving it to his own adopted heir, Lucius Licinianus. His reign did not last long, however, and he was soon deposed by Marcus Salvius Otho, who became "Imperator Marcus Otho Caesar Augustus". Otho was then defeated by Aulus Vitellius, who became "Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus", adopting the victory title "Germanicus" instead of "Caesar". Nevertheless, "Caesar" had become such an integral part of the imperial dignity that its place was immediately restored by Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus), who ended the civil war and established the Flavian dynasty in AD 69, ruling under the name "Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus".

The placement of the name "Caesar" varied among the early emperors. It was usually placed right before the cognomen (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian); a few of them placed it right after it (Galba, Otho, Nerva). The imperial formula was finally standardized during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Antoninus, born "Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus", became "Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus" after his adoption, but ruled as "Imperator Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus (Pius)". The imperial formula thus became "Imperator Caesar [name] Augustus" for emperors. Heir-apparents added "Caesar" to their names, placing it right after their cognomen. They occasionally were given the honorific Princeps iuventutis ("First among the Youth"), and were also adressed as Nobilissimus Caesar ("Most Noble Caesar").

Later developments

Crisis of the Third Century

The popularity of using the title caesar to designate heirs-apparent increased throughout the third century. Many of the soldier emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century attempted to strengthen their legitimacy by naming heirs, including Maximinus Thrax, Philip the Arab, Decius, Trebonianus Gallus and Gallienus. Some of these were promoted to the rank of augustus within their father's lifetime, for example Philip II. The same title would also be used in the Gallic Empire, which operated autonomously from the rest of the Roman Empire from 260 to 274, with the final Gallic emperor Tetricus I appointing his heir Tetricus II as caesar and his consular colleague.

Despite the best efforts of these emperors, however, the granting of this title does not seem to have made succession in this chaotic period any more stable. Almost all caesares would be killed before or alongside their fathers, or at best outlive them for a matter of months, as in the case of Hostilian. The sole caesar to successfully obtain the rank of augustus and rule for some time in his own right was Gordian III, and even he was heavily controlled by his court.

Tetrarchy and Diarchy

On 1 March 293, Diocletian established the Tetrarchy, a system of rule by two senior emperors and two junior colleagues. The two coequal senior emperors were styled identically to previous Emperors, as Imperator Caesar NN. Pius Felix Invictus Augustus (Elagabalus had introduced the use of Pius Felix, "Pious and Blessed", while Maximinus Thrax introduced Invictus, "Unconquered") and were called the augusti, while the two junior colleagues were styled identically to previous Emperors-designate, as nobilissimus caesar. Likewise, the junior colleagues retained the title caesar upon becoming full emperors.

The Tetrarchy collapsed as soon as Diocletian step down from power in 305, as emperors Constantine I and Maxentius fought to established their own imperial dinasty. This system was abandoned (though the four quarters of the empire survived as praetorian prefectures) in favour of two equal, territorial emperors, one in the Latin-speaking West and other in the Greek-speaking East.

The title remained in use throughout the Constantinian period, with both Constantine I and his co-emperor and rival Licinius utilising it to mark their heirs. Constantine had four caesares at the time of his death: his sons Constantius II, Constantine II, Constans and his nephew Dalmatius, with his eldest son Crispus having been executed in mysterious circumstances earlier in his reign. He would be succeeded only by his three sons, with Dalmatius dying in the summer of 337 in similarly murky circumstances.

Constantius II himself would nominate as caesares his cousins Constantius Gallus and Julian in succession in the 350s, although he first executed Gallus and then found himself at war with Julian before his own death. After Julian's revolt of 361, the title fell out of imperial fashion for some time, with emperors preferring simply to elevate their sons directly to augustus, as with Gratian. It would be revived nearly three quarters of a century later when Theodosius II gave it to his nephew Valentinian III before successfully installing him upon the western throne. Thereafter it would receive limited use in the Eastern Empire, for example, in the designation of the future Leo II in the final months of his grandfather's life.

Byzantine Empire

Caesar or Kaisar (Καῖσαρ) remained a senior court title in the Eastern or Byzantine Empire. Originally, as in the classical Roman Empire, it was used for the heir apparent, and was first among the "awarded" dignities. From the reign of Theodosius I, however, most emperors chose to solidify the succession of their intended heirs by raising them to co-emperors. Hence the title was more frequently awarded to second- and third-born sons, or to close and influential relatives of the Emperor: thus for example Alexios Mosele was the son-in-law of Theophilos (ruled 829–842), Bardas was the uncle and chief minister of Michael III (r. 842–867), while Nikephoros II (r. 963–969) awarded the title to his father, Bardas Phokas.^[3]^[4] An exceptional case was the conferment of the dignity and its insignia to the Bulgarian khan Tervel by Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711) who had helped him regain his throne in 705.^[4] The title was awarded to the brother of Empress Maria of Alania, George II of Georgia in 1081.

The office enjoyed extensive privileges, great prestige and power. When Alexios I Komnenos created the title of sebastokrator, kaisar became third in importance, and fourth after Manuel I Komnenos created the title of despot, which it remained until the end of the Empire. The feminine form was kaisarissa. It remained an office of great importance, usually awarded to imperial relations, as well as a few high-ranking and distinguished officials, and only rarely awarded to foreigners.

According to the Klētorologion of 899, the Byzantine caesar's insignia were a crown without a cross, and the ceremony of a caesar's creation (in this case dating to Constantine V), is included in De Ceremoniis I.43.^[5] The title remained the highest in the imperial hierarchy until the introduction of the sebastokratōr (a composite derived from sebastos and autokrator, the Greek equivalents of augustus and imperator) by Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and later of despotēs by Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180). The title remained in existence through the last centuries of the Empire. In the Palaiologan period, it was held by prominent nobles like Alexios Strategopoulos, but from the 14th century, it was mostly awarded to rulers of the Balkans such as the princes of Vlachia, Serbia and Thessaly.^[4]

In the late Byzantine hierarchy, as recorded in the mid-14th century Book of Offices of pseudo-Kodinos, the rank continued to come after the sebastokratōr. Pseudo-Kodinos further records that the caesar was equal in precedence to the panhypersebastos, another creation of Alexios I, but that Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) had raised his nephew Michael Tarchaneiotes to the rank of protovestiarios and decreed that to come after the caesar; while under Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) the megas domestikos was raised to the same eminence, when it was awarded to the future emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354).^[6] According to pseudo-Kodinos, the caesar's insignia under the Palaiologoi were a skiadion hat in red and gold, decorated with gold-wire embroideries, with a veil bearing the wearer's name and pendants identical to those of the despotēs and the sebastokratōr. He wore a red tunic (rouchon) similar to the emperor's (without certain decorations), and his shoes and stockings were blue, as were the accouterments of his horse; these were all identical to those of the sebastokratōr, but without the embroidered eagles of the latter. Pseudo-Kodinos writes that the particular forms of another form of hat, the domed skaranikon, and of the mantle, the tamparion, for the caesar were not known.^[7]

Ottoman Empire

"Caesar" is the title officially used by the Sasanid Persians to refer to the Roman and Byzantine emperors.^[8]^[9] In the Middle East, the Persians and the Arabs continued to refer to the Roman and Byzantine emperors as "Caesar" (in Persian: قیصر روم Qaysar-i Rum, "Caesar of the Romans", from Middle Persian kēsar). Thus, following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the victorious Ottoman sultan Mehmed II became the first of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire to assume the title (in Ottoman Turkish: قیصر روم Kayser-i Rûm).

After the Fall of Constantinople, having conquered the Byzantine Empire, Mehmed took the title Kayser-i Rûm, claiming succession to the Roman imperium.^[10] His claim was that, by possession of the city, he was emperor, a new dynast by conquest, as had been done previously by the likes of Heraclius and Leo III.^[11] Contemporary scholar George of Trebizond wrote "the seat of the Roman Empire is Constantinople ... and he who is and remains Emperor of the Romans is also the Emperor of the whole world".^[12]

Gennadius II, a staunch antagonist of the West because of the Sack of Constantinople committed by the Western Catholics and theological controversies between the two Churches, had been enthroned the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople-New Rome with all the ceremonial elements and ethnarch (or milletbashi) status by the Sultan himself in 1454. In turn, Gennadius II formally recognized Mehmed as successor to the throne.^[13] Mehmed also had a blood lineage to the Byzantine Imperial family; his predecessor, Sultan Orhan I had married a Byzantine princess, and Mehmed may have claimed descent from John Tzelepes Komnenos.^[14] Ottoman sultans were not the only rulers to claim such a title, as there was the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, whose emperor, Frederick III, traced his titular lineage from Charlemagne who obtained the title of Roman Emperor when he was crowned by Pope Leo III in 800, although he was never recognized as such by the Byzantine Empire.

In diplomatic writings between the Ottomans and Austrians, the Ottoman bureaucracy was angered by their use of the Caesar title when the Ottomans saw themself as the true successors of Rome. When war broke out and peace negotiations were done, the Austrians (Holy Roman Empire) agreed to give up the use of the Caesar title according to Treaty of Constantinople (1533) (though they would continue to use it and the Roman imperial title until the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806). The Russians, who defined Moscow as the Third Rome, were similarly sanctioned by the Ottomans, who ordered the Crimean Khanate to raid Russia on numerous occasions.^[15] The Ottomans would lose their political superiority over the Holy Roman Empire with the Treaty of Zsitvatorok in 1606, and over the Russian Empire with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, by diplomatically recognising the monarchs of these two countries as equals to the Ottoman Sultan for the first time.

List of holders

Name	Acceded	Relinquished	Reason	Reigning Emperor	Relation	R.
Titus	21 December 69	24 June 79	succeeded as augustus	Vespasian	Son	^[16]
Domitian	21 December 69	14 September 81	succeeded as augustus	Titus	Son	^[17]
Trajan	Late October 97	28 January 98	succeeded as augustus	Nerva	Adopted son	^[18]
Lucius Caesar	June/August 136	1 January 138	died of illness	Hadrian	Adopted son	^[19]
Antoninus Pius	25 February 138	10 July 138	succeeded as augustus	Hadrian	Adopted son	^[20]
Marcus Aurelius	Late 139	7 March 161	succeeded as augustus	Antoninus Pius	Son-in-law	^[21]
Lucius Verus	12 October 166	c. January 169	succeeded as augustus	Marcus Aurelius	Son-in-law	^[22]
Marcus Verus	12 October 166	10 September 169	died of a tumor	Marcus Aurelius	Son	^[23]
Commodus	12 October 166	27 November 176	proclaimed augustus	Marcus Aurelius	Son	^[24]
Clodius Albinus (?	c. 194	c. 196	title revoked	Septimius Severus	–	^[25]
Caracalla	4 April 196	28 January 198	proclaimed augustus	Septimius Severus	Son	^[26]
Geta	28 January 198	c. October 209	proclaimed augustus	Septimius Severus	Son	^[27]
Diadumenian	April 217	May 218	proclaimed augustus	Macrinus	Son	^[28]
Sallustius (?	c. 227	c. 227	executed	Severus Alexander	Father-in-law	^[29]
Verus Maximus	January/May 236	May/June 238	murdered	Maximinus Thrax	Son	^[30]
Gordian III	April/May 238	August 238	proclaimed augustus	Balbinus/Pupienus	–	^[31]
Philip II	August 244	July/August 247	proclaimed augustus	Philip the Arab	Son	^[31]
Hostilian	September 250	June 251	proclaimed augustus	Decius	Son	^[31]
Volusianus	c. July 251	c. August 253	proclaimed augustus	Trebonianus Gallus	Son	^[32]
Valerian II	c. September 256	Summer 258	murdered?	Gallienus	Son	^[33]
Saloninus	c. June 258	c. July 260	proclaimed augustus	Gallienus	Son	^[33]
Maximian	21 July (?) 285	1 April 286	succeeded as augustus	Diocletian (East)	–	^[34]
Constantius I	1 March 293	1 May 305	succeeded as augustus	Maximian (West)	step-grandson	^[35]
Galerius	21 March 293	1 May 305	succeeded as augustus	Diocletian (East)	son-in-law	^[36]
Severus II	1 May 305	25 July 306	succeeded as augustus	Maximian (West)	–	^[37]
Maximinus II	1 May 305	1 May 310	succeeded as augustus	Galerius (East)	Nephew	^[38]
Licinius Junior	1 March 317	19 September 324	deposed	Licinius (East)	Son	^[39]
Crispus	1 March 317	c. March 326	executed	Constantine I	Son	^[40]
Constantine II	1 March 317	9 September 337	succeeded as augustus	Constantine I	Son	^[41]
Constantius II	1 March 317	9 September 337	succeeded as augustus	Constantine I	Son	^[41]
Constans I	25 December 333	9 September 337	succeeded as augustus	Constantine I	Son	^[42]
Dalmatius	18 September 335	337	murdered	Constantine I	Nephew	^[43]
Decentius	July/August 350	18 August 353	committed suicide	Magnentius (West)	Brother	^[44]
Gallus	15 March 351	354	executed	Constantius II	half-cousin	^[45]
Julian	6 November 355	3 November 361	succeeded as augustus	Constantius II	Cousin	^[46]
Constans	408	409 / 410	proclaimed augustus	Constantine III (W)	Son	^[47]
Valentinian III	23 October 424	23 October 425	proclaimed augustus	Theodosius II (E)	half-cousin	^[48]
Palladius	17 March 455	31 May 455	executed by Avitus	Maximus (West)	Son	^[49]
Patricius	c. 470	c. 471	deposed or executed	Leo I (East)	Son-in-law	^[50]
Leo II	c. October 472	17 November 473	proclaimed augustus	Leo I (East)	Son	^[51]
Marcus	475	475	proclaimed augustus	Basiliscus (East)	Son	^[52]
Basiliscus	476	477	executed	Zeno (East)	–	^[53]
Tiberius II	7 December 574	26 September 578	proclaimed augustus	Justin II	Adopted son	^[54]
Germanus	5 August 582	by 11 August 582	rejected the title	Tiberius II	Son-in-law	^[55]
Maurice	5 August 582	13 August 582	proclaimed augustus	Tiberius II	Son-in-law	^[56]
Theodosius	c. 587	26 March 590	proclaimed augustus	Maurice	Son	^[57]
Heraclonas	1 January 632	4 July 638	proclaimed augustus	Heraclius	Son	^[58]
David Tiberius	4 July 638	November 641	proclaimed augustus	Heraclius	Son	^[59]
Martinus	4 July 638 (?)	November 641	deposed	Heraclius	Son	^[59]

Byzantine nobles

Tervel, khan of the Bulgars, named in 705 by Justinian II.^[4]
Nikephoros & Christopher, named on 2 April 769 by their father Constantine V.^[60]
Alexios Mosele, likely named in 831 by his father-in-law Theophilos
Bardas, named on 22 April 862 by his nephew Michael III
Romanos I Lekapenos, named on 24 September 920 by the Byzantine senate.
Bardas Phokas, named in late 963 by his son Nikephoros II
Romanos III Argyros, named on 9 November 1028 by Constantine VIII
Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger, named by his father-in-law Alexios I
John Doukas, named in 1074 by his brother Constantine X
George II of Georgia, named in 1081 by his brother-in-law Nikephoros III
Nikephoros Melissenos, named in 1080 by Alexios I
Isaac Komnenos, named in 1104 by his father Alexios I
John Rogerios Dalassenos, named c. 1130 by his father-in-law John II.
Renier of Montferrat, named in 1180 by his father-in-law Manuel I
John Kantakouzenos, named in 1186 by Isaac II
Conrad of Montferrat, named in 1187 by his father-in-law Isaac II
Manuel Maurozomes, named c. 1200 by Alexios III
Leo Gabalas, named by Theodore I Laskaris (r. 1205–1221)
Constantine Palaiologos, named in 1259 by his brother Michael VIII
Alexios Strategopoulos, named in 1259 by Michael VIII
Roger de Flor, leader of the Catalan Company, named in 1304 by Andronikos II
John Palaiologos, named in 1326 by his uncle Andronikos II
Hrelja, likely named by John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354).

Serbian rulers

Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos, named in 1373 by despot Thomas Preljubović
Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos, named in 1390 by despot Esau de' Buondelmonti
Grgur Golubić, named in 1347 by Stefan Uroš IV Dušan.
Vojihna, named in 1347 by Uroš IV.
Preljub, named in 1348–9 by Uroš IV.
Uglješa Vlatković, named by Uroš V.
Nikola Radonja, named by Uroš V.
Novak, named by Uroš V.

Ottoman rulers

Mehmed II, assumed title in 1453 (Kayser-i Rûm).
Bayezid II, inherited from predecessor.
Selim I, inherited from predecessor.
Suleiman I, inherited from predecessor.
Selim II, inherited from predecessor.
Murad III, inherited from predecessor.
Mehmed III, inherited from predecessor.
Ahmed I, inherited from predecessor.
Mustafa I, inherited from predecessor.
Osman II, inherited from predecessor.
Murad IV, inherited from predecessor.
Ibrahim, inherited from predecessor.
Mehmed IV, inherited from predecessor.

Legacy

Title (and name)

The history of "Caesar" as an imperial title is reflected by the following monarchic titles, usually reserved for "emperor" and "empress" in many languages (note that the name Caesar, pronounced /siːzər/ in English, was pronounced [kaisar] in Classical Latin):

Afro-Asiatic languages:

Arabic: Qays'r قصر;قيصر Qas'r
Hebrew: Kesár קיסר (male) and Kesarít קיסרית (female);

Albanian:

Albanian: Çezar and Qesarinë;

Armenian:

Armenian: կայսր Kaysr, and Armenian: կայսրություն Kaysrutiun meaning empire;

Greek:

Modern Greek: Greek: Καίσαρας (Kaisaras), the archaic form Greek: Καίσαρ is rarely used today;

Austronesian languages:

Bahasa Indonesia: Kaisar;

Baltic languages:

Latvian: Ķeizars and Ķeizariene;

Germanic languages:

Danish: Kejser and Kejserinde;
Dutch: Keizer and Keizerin;
German: Kaiser and Kaiserin;
Icelandic: Keisari and Keisaraynja;
Faroese: Keisari and Keisarinna;
Norwegian: Keiser and Keiserinne (bokmål) / Keisar and Keisarinne (nynorsk);
Swedish: Kejsare and Kejsarinna
Old English: cāsere

Indo-Iranian languages:

Persian: Ghaysar قيصر
Urdu: Qaysar قيصر used in the title "Kaiser-i-Hind" ("Emperor of India") during the British Raj

Kartvelian languages

Georgian: კეისარი (Keisari)

Romance languages

Italian, Cesare, used as a first name.
Romanian, cezar as a common noun in certain contexts; Cezar, used as a first name.
Spanish, Portuguese and French, César: commonly used as first or second name.

Slavic languages:

Belarusian: Цар, царыца, romanized: tsar, tsarytsa
Bulgarian: Цар, царица, romanized: tsar, tsaritsa;
Czech: Císař, císařovna;
Macedonian: Цар, царица, romanized: tsar, tsarica
Polish: Cesarz, Cesarzowa;
Russian: Царь, Царица, romanized: tsar, tsaritsa; however in the Russian Empire (also reflected in some of its other languages), which aimed to be the "third Rome" as successor to the Byzantine Empire, it was abandoned (not in the foreign language renderings though) as imperial style—in favor of Imperator and Autocrator—and used as a lower, royal style as within the empire in chief of some of its parts, e.g. Georgia and Siberia
- In the United States and, more recently, Britain, the title "czar" (an archaic transliteration of the Russian title) is a slang term for certain high-level civil servants, such as the "drug czar" for the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and "terrorism czar" for a Presidential advisor on terrorism policy. More specifically, a czar refers to a sub-cabinet-level advisor within the executive branch of the U.S. government.
Serbo-Croatian: Car, carica, цар, царица
Slovak: Cisár, cisárovná;
Slovene: cesar, cesarica or car, carica;
Ukrainian: Цісар, цісарева, romanized: tsisar, tsisareva, also Ukrainian: цар/царь, царина, romanized: (archaic) czar and czarina, (modern) tsar, tsaryna

Turkic languages:

Turkish: Kayser (histo rical), Sezar (modern). Kayser-i-Rûm "Caesar of [Constantinople, the second] Rome", one of many subsidiary titles proclaiming the Ottoman Sultan (main imperial title Padishah) as (Muslim) successor to "Rum" as the Turks called the (Christian) Roman Empire (as Byzantium had continued to call itself), continuing to use the name for part of formerly Byzantine territory (compare the Seljuk Rum-sultanate)

Uralic languages:

Estonian: Keiser and Keisrinna;
Finnish: Keisari and Keisarinna or Keisaritar;
Hungarian: Császár and Császárnő;

In various Romance and other languages, the imperial title was based on the Latin Imperator (a military mandate or a victory title), but Caesar or a derivation is still used for both the name and the minor ranks (still perceived as Latin).^{[citation needed]}

There have been other cases of a noun proper being turned into a title, such as Charlemagne's Latin name, including the epithet, Carolus (magnus), becoming Slavonic titles rendered as King: Kralj (Serbo-Croatian), Král (Czech) and Król (Polish), etc.^{[citation needed]}

However certain languages, especially Romance languages, also commonly use a "modernized" word (e.g., César in French) for the name, both referring to the Roman cognomen and modern use as a first name, and even to render the title Caesar, sometimes again extended to the derived imperial titles above.^{[citation needed]}

Yoruba language:

Yoruba: Késárì

Translation of the name Caesar first recorded in the first book translated to Yoruba, the bible. The Caesar in the bible refers to Emperor Augustus, who was referred to as Caesar. It was not used as a title for kings as it did not reach the language till the late 19th century and was not widely known till the 20th century. The main title for king was "Kábíyèsi", meaning one who cannot be questioned (Ká-bí-yò-èsi).

Historiography

Oswald Spengler used the term, Caesarism, in his book, The Decline of the West.

References

^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 537.
^ Syme, Ronald (1959), "Livy and Augustus", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 64: 175, 179, doi:10.2307/310937, JSTOR 310937
^ Bury 1911, p. 36.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ODB, "Caesar" (A. Kazhdan), p. 363.
^ Bury 1911, pp. 20, 36.
^ Verpeaux 1966, pp. 134–136.
^ Verpeaux 1966, pp. 147–149.
^ Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭩𐭮𐭫𐭩 kysly (Inscriptional Pahlavi), kysl (Book Pahlavi), transcribed as kēsar
^ Hurbanič, Martin (2019). The Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626: History and Legend. Springer. p. 234. ISBN 978-3-030-16684-7.
^ Michalis N. Michael; Matthias Kappler; Eftihios Gavriel (2009). Archivum Ottomanicum. Mouton. p. 10. ISBN 9783447057530.
^ Christine Isom-Verhaaren; Kent F. Schull (11 April 2016). Living in the Ottoman Realm: Empire and Identity, 13th to 20th Centuries. Indiana University Press. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-0-253-01948-6.
^ Crowley, Roger (2009). Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453. Faber & Faber. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-0-571-25079-0.
^ "Gennadios II Scholarios". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
^ Norwich, John Julius (1995). Byzantium:The Decline and Fall. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 81–82. ISBN 0-679-41650-1.
^ Halil, Inançik (2017). Kırım Hanlığı Tarihi Üzerine Araştırmalar 1441-1700: Seçme Eserleri - XI. ISBN 978-6052952511.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 105.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 109.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 116.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 126.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 128.
^ J. C., O'Neill (1970). The Theology of Acts in Its Historical Setting. S.P.C.K. p. 18. ISBN 9781028102341.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 135.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 134.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 140.
^ Lindsay, Hugh (2009). Adoption in the Roman World. p. 214. ISBN 9780521760508. The Historia Augusta states that Severus considered abdicating in favour of Albinus. Herodian and Dio, however, say this was merely a trick.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 156.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 160.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 163.
^ "Alexander Severus (A.D. 222-235)". De Imperatoribus Romanis.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 178.
^ ^a ^b ^c Peachin 1990, pp. 28–34.
^ Peachin 1990, p. 36.
^ ^a ^b Peachin 1990, p. 38.
^ Omissi, Adrastos (2018). Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire. Oxford University Press. p. 76. ISBN 9780192558268.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 269.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 272.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 278.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 277.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 284.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 293.
^ ^a ^b Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 297.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 298.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 294.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 306.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 303.
^ Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 309.
^ PLRE, II, p. 310.
^ PLRE, II, p. 1138.
^ PLRE, II, p. 751.
^ PLRE, II, p. 842.
^ Croke, Brian (2004). "The Imperial Reigns of Leo II". Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 96 (2): 559–575. doi:10.1515/BYZS.2003.559. S2CID 191460505.
^ PLRE, II, p. 720.
^ PLRE, II, 211.
^ PLRE, III, pp. 1321-1326.
^ PLRE, III, p. 529.
^ PLRE, III, pp. 855-860.
^ PLRE, III, p. 1293.
^ Grierson, Philip (1996). Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins, Vol. 2. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 216 & 390. ISBN 9780884020240.
^ ^a ^b Gonis, Nikolaos (2008). "SB VI 8986 and Heraclius' Sons". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 166: 199–202. JSTOR 20476531.
^ J. R. Martindale (2001), "Nikephoros 5". Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire.

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