Byzantine imperial titles

Basileus () is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean , referring to either a or an . The title was used by sovereigns and other persons of authority in ancient Greece (especially during the Hellenistic period), the Byzantine emperors, and the kings of modern Greece. The name Basileios (Basil), deriving from the term basileus, is a common given name in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Syriac Orthodox Church for the Maphrian.

heir apparent to the emperor or senior court official

Sebastokrator (, ; ; ), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence (Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Empire). The word is a compound of sebastós (, the Greek equivalent of the Latin Augustus) and krátōr ('ruler', the same element as is found in autokrator, 'emperor'). The wife of a Sebastokrator was named sebastokratorissa (, sevastokratórissa) in Greek, sevastokratitsa () in Bulgarian and sevastokratorica in Serbian.

thumb|Ivory plaque with Emperor Constantine VII being crowned by [[Christ. The legend reads: "Constantine, in God [faithful], and of the Romans.]] Autokrator or Autocrator (, from + ) is a Greek epithet applied to an individual who is unrestrained by superiors. It has been applied to military commanders-in-chief as well as Roman and Byzantine emperors as the translation of the Latin title . Its connection with Byzantine and Russian-style absolutism gave rise to the modern terms autocracy and autocrat.

' ( , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was ' (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th century Byzantine Empire and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title sebastos and variants derived from it, like , , , and .

thumb|Bronze of Romanos Lekapenos, one of the three in Byzantine history.

thumb|Coin of Licinius II , the inscription "LICINIUS IUNior NOBilissimus CAESar" translates as 'Licinius Junior Most Noble Caesar' ' (Latin for "most noble"), in Byzantine Greek (Greek: ), was one of the highest imperial titles in the late Roman and Byzantine empires. The feminine form of the title was '.