Mavi Boncuk | Dük TR Dke EN: Dux (/dʌks, dʊks/; plural: duces) is Latin for "leader" (from the verb ducere, "to lead") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.).
During the Roman Republic, dux could refer to anyone who commanded troops, including foreign leaders, but was not a formal military rank. In writing his commentaries on the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar uses the term only for Celtic generals, with one exception for a Roman commander who held no official rank.
Dux is also the root of various high feudal noble titles of peerage rank, such as (via the French duc) the English duke, the Spanish and Portuguese duque, the Venetian doge the Italian duca and duce and the Byzantine Greek dukas or doukas (Gr. δούκας)[1].
The megas doux (Greek: μέγας δούξ; English: grand duke) was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the later Byzantine Empire, denoting the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy[2]. It is sometimes also given by the half-Latinizations megaduke or megadux (from Greek μεγαδούξ). The Greek word δούξ is the Hellenized form of the Latin term dux, meaning leader or commander.
Kont TR Count EN: title of nobility, c. 1300, from Anglo-French counte (Old French conte), from Latin comitem (nominative comes) "companion, attendant," the Roman term for a provincial governor, from com- "with" (see com-) + stem of ire "to go" (see ion). The term was used in Anglo-French to render Old English eorl, but the word was never truly naturalized and mainly was used with reference to foreign titles.
Baron TR Baron EN: c. 1200, from Old French baron (nominative ber) "baron, nobleman, military leader, warrior, virtuous man, lord, husband," probably from or related to Late Latin baro "man," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Frankish *baro "freeman, man;" merged in England with cognate Old English beorn "nobleman." baronet: c. 1400, diminutive of baron with -et; originally a younger or lesser baron; as a titled hereditary order, established 1611. barony: c. 1300, from Old French baronie, from Late Latin *baronia, from baron. baroness: early 15c., from Old French barnesse "lady of quality, noblewoman" (also, ironically, "woman of low morals, slut") or Medieval Latin baronissa
[1] Doukas or Dukas, Latinized as Ducas (Greek: Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin tile dux ("leader", "general", Hellenized as δοὺξ [ðoux]), is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded the Despotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling over Thessaly. After the 12th century, the name "Doukas" and other variants proliferated across the Byzantine world, and were sometimes presented as signifying a direct genealogical relationship with the original family or the later branch based in the Despotate of Epirus.
[2] After the decline of the navy in the 11th century, Alexios I rebuilt it on different lines. Since the thematic fleets had all but vanished, their remnants were amalgamated into a unified imperial fleet, under the new office of the megas doux.
The first known occupant of the office was Alexios' brother-in-law John Doukas, in ca. 1092. The megas droungarios of the fleet, once the overall naval commander, was subordinated to him, acting now as his principal aide. The megas doux was also appointed as overall governor of southern Greece, the old themata of Hellas and the Peloponnese, which were divided into districts (oria) that supplied the fleet. Under John II, the Aegean islands also became responsible for the maintenance, crewing and provision of warships, and contemporary sources took pride in the fact that the great fleets of Manuel's reign were crewed by "native Romans", although use continued to be made of mercenaries and allied squadrons. However, the fact that the fleet was now exclusively built and based around Constantinople, and that provincial fleets were not reconstituted, did have its drawbacks, as outlying areas, in particular Greece, were left vulnerable to attack.
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