What is the origin of the word emperor?

Answer 1

The word comes from latin - imperator - It translate to general, but much more in the kind of commander in chief kinda type. Now the Emperor would nerver or rarely be called imperator. The thing is that the imperator is the one who has the control of the army. The Emperor had that specific power and added to it other powers wich made him the most powerfull man in the Empire. He was never declared kind or any kind of other title that might invoke such an idea. (read on the age of the Roman kings for further undersanding on why they hated kings) So the word emperor has changed greatly in meaning over time. The roman emperor was most likely called - Augustus - or - princeps inter pares (first among peers) or just princeps (prince) - or by his name when appliable. If someone would say imperator, then they would say the whole name of the emperor like for Trajan it have been : Imperator Caesar, diui Vespasiani filius, Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus, Germanicus, Dacicus, Parthicus -- Ceasar imperator, son of divine Vespasian, Nerva Trajan greatess Agustus, vanquisher of the Germans, the Daces and the Parthians --