satrapes

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈsa.tra.peːs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈsaː.tra.pes]^[1]

Forms

satrapēs m (genitive satrapis); third declension^[1] It also appears as satrapa and satraps;^[2][3] Nepos has the genitive satrapis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σατράπης (satrápēs, “satrap”).^[2][1][4][3] The Greek word comes from a Persian title; the OLD compares Sanskrit क्षत्रम् (kṣatrám) and Sanskrit पति (páti), and Köbler links it with the Persian word for rule.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Terence, who has the form ⟨satrapa⟩.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a Persian provincial governor, a satrap, in Nepos, Curtius and Ammianus.^[2][3] The Vulgate uses it more generally of a ruler, as the lords of the Philistines.^[3] Pliny the Elder and Curtius have the derivative ⟨satrapīa⟩, a satrap's province.^[3] Church Latin glosses it governor, viceroy, satrap.^[5]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence has ⟨satrapa⟩.^[3][4]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of Persian governors.^[3][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate of the lords of the Philistines.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Persian provincial governor, a satrap, viceroy.^[2][3][1][5]
2. (Late Latin) A ruler, lord.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson