Sparapet

thumb | right ''''''' () was a military title and office in ancient and medieval Armenia. Under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the ' was the supreme commander of the kingdom's armed forces. During the Arsacid period and for some time afterwards, the office was held hereditarily by the senior member of the House of Mamikonian. Later in history, the title was held by members of other noble houses, such as the Bagratuni and Pahlavuni dynasties. The title was used in the medieval Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, where the bearer of the title was also called '''''''' (), from the Byzantine and Western title of constable.

== Etymology == The word is of Iranian origin, ultimately deriving from Proto-Iranian *spādapati- (“commander of the army”), which is composed of *cwáHdaH (“army”) and *pati-'' (“lord”). The word was borrowed into Armenian several times from different Iranian languages, yielding the alternative forms ', ', and '; the most common form, ', was borrowed from Parthian. It is cognates with Middle Persian '' (whence modern ) and Georgian .''