Hypatos

Hýpatos (Greek: ὕπατος, plural: hýpatoi) and the variant apó hypátōn (ἀπὸ ὑπάτων, "former hýpatos", literally: "from among the consuls") was a Byzantine court dignity, originally the Greek translation of Latin consul (the literal meaning of hypatos is "the supreme one," which reflects the office, but not the etymology of the Roman consul). The dignity arose from the honorary consulships awarded in the late Roman Empire, and survived until the early 12th century. It was often conferred upon the rulers of the south Italian principalities. In Italian documents the term was sometimes Latinised as hypatus or ypatus, and in Italian historiography one finds ipato. The feminine form of the term was hypátissa (ὑπάτισσα).