Aspet (in Armenian Ասպետ , lit. “noble”, “noble horseman”, from “ա -” - a horse, “պե -” - the owner ) - in ancient Armenia, a hereditary noble military title. It comes either from the Old Persian term viƒa-pati (“head of the clan”) or from the later asbbed (“head of the cavalry”) [1] [2] . In the Armenian army, consisting mainly of horsemen, he commanded a sparapet , which makes it impossible to interpret the significance of aspet as a position, in accordance with the Iranian aspbed , and makes it more likely to be interpreted as a title. It is possible to draw a parallel with the European title “ knight ”, but the question of the exact meaning remains open [3] . The title of aspet was carried by many Bagratids [4] .
The title ceased to be used after the Arab conquest of Armenia . The name of the Byzantine family of Armenian origin, Greek, dates back to it . Ἀσπιέτης ( Aspietes ).
See also
- Code of Honor of the Armenian Army
Notes
- ↑ N. G. Adonts , Armenia in the Period of Justinian , tr. and rev. by N. Garsoïan, Lisbon, 1970, p. 312
- ↑ Hübschman, Heinrich , Armenische Etymologie, p. 109
- ↑ A. G. Sukiasyan , Political system and law of Armenia in the era of early feudalism, 3rd – 4th centuries n e. (1963) p. 121
- ↑ KL of the Mists Studies in Christian Caucasian History III , pp. 202, 324-26 // Georgetown University Press, 1963
Literature
- Adonts N. Armenia Justinian, p. 400-402
- Manandyan I. Transactions, vol. IV, p. 234-237; NSA, v. 1, p. 316