comes
Sign in to saveComes (plural comites), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office.
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Ancient Roman religion
- Imperial Roman curial titles and offices styled ''comites''
- At court or in the Imperial domains
- ''Comes rei militaris''
- Comites dominorum nostrorum
- Medieval adaptations of comital offices
- Gothic ''Comites''
- Frankish ''Gaugraf''
- Feudalism
- See also
- References
Comes (plural comites), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office.
The word comes originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "com-" ("with") and "ire" ("go"). The special lasting meaning derives from the position of a follower within a comitatus, which was a retinue, or group of followers, such as those of magnates. In some instances these were sufficiently large and/or formal to justify specific denomination, such as a "cohors amicorum".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “comes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.