Tetrarchy
The tetrarchy ( Greek τετραρχία from τετράς 'fourness' and ἄρχειν 'rule') is a form of government in which a domain is divided into four areas, each of which is subject to a tetrarch ( tetrarch ). More generally, tetrarchy denotes part of a tribal or people's area; accordingly, a tetrarch was subordinate to an ethnarch or the ruler of part of a tribal area.
A distinction is made between the Herodian tetrarchy , the Thessalian tetrarchy and (as the best known) the Roman tetrarchy founded by Emperor Diocletian . The three tribes of the Celtic Galatians in Asia Minor were also divided into tetrarchies.
In the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great , a tetrarchy was a cavalry unit consisting of four Lochoi of 16 men each. The leader of such a cavalry unit was called a tetrarch (τετράρχης). This classification was also adopted for foot troops under Philip V at the latest .
literature
- Dankward Vollmer: Tetrarchy. Notes on the use of an ancient and modern term. In: Hermes . Vol. 119, No. 4, 1991, pp. 435-449, JSTOR 4476839 .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Arrian , Anabasis 3,18,5.
- ↑ Asklepiodotos 2.8; Arrian, Tactica 10.1; Aelianus tacticus , tactica 9.2.