Strategos Strategos , plural strategoi , ( ; Doric Greek : στραταγός , " stratagos " ; literally meaning " army leader " ) is used in Greek to mean military general . In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empire s the term was also used to describe a military governor . In the modern Hellenic Army it is the highest officer rank . The office of " Strategos " in Classical Greece . Themistocles , Aristides and Cimon were early examples of " strategoi " who were politicians as well as generals . Pericles was a " strategos " very often throughout his career ; from 443 until 429 BC . Cleon , Nicias and Alcibiades were also " strategoi " . But at the end of the 5th century , with the collapse of the military and naval power Athens , and later because of an increasing tendency to specialization , military office ceased to be a means of acquiring political influence . Little is known of the number and method of appointment of Athenian " strategoi " in the 6th century , but in 501 BC , a new arrangement was introduced by which ten " strategoi " were elected annually , one from each phyle . The ten were of equal status : at Marathon in 490 ( according to Herodotus ) they decided strategy by majority vote , and each held the presidency in daily rotation . At this date the polemarchos had a casting vote , and one view is that he was the commander - in - chief ; but from 486 onwards the polemarch , like other archon tes , was appointed by lot . The annual election of the " strategoi " was held in the spring , and their term of office coincided with the ordinary Athenian year , from midsummer to midsummer . If a " strategos " died or was dismissed from office , a by - election might be held to replace him . " Strategoi " commanded both from land and by sea . A particular military or naval expedition might have one " strategos " or several in command ; rarely did all ten go together . At home the " strategoi " were responsible for calling up citizens and metic s for military service , and for organizing the maintenance and command of ships by the system of trierarchies . When a legal case arose from any of these matters , such as a prosecution for desertion or evasion of service , or a dispute over the duty to perform a trierarchy , the " strategoi " were the magistrates responsible for bringing the case to court and presiding over the trial . In the 4th century a systematic division of duties was made : one " strategos " led the hoplite s and one was in charge of the defense of Attica , two were in charge of the defense of Piraeus , and one supervised the trierarchy , leaving the remaining five available for other duties . The Athenian people kept a close eye on their " strategoi " . Like other magistrates , at the end of their term of office they were subject to euthyna and in addition there was a vote in the ekklesia during every prytany on the question whether they were performing their duties well . If the vote went against anyone , he was deposed and as a rule tried by jury . Pericles himself in 430 was removed from office as " strategos " and fined , and in 406 the eight " strategoi " who commanded the fleet at Arginusae were all removed from office and condemned to death . These arrangements illustrate one of the most striking features of Athenian democracy : reluctance to give power to individuals and fear that it might be abused . Hellenistic and Roman use . Philip II of Macedon was elected as " strategos autokrator " ( commander - in - chief with full powers ) in the League of Corinth . Parmenion the Macedonian general had also the title of " strategos " . In the Hellenistic empires of the Diadochi , notably Lagid Egypt , " strategos " became a gubernatorial office . In Egypt , a " strategos " presided over each of the country ' s nome s . In Egypt , the unique office and title of epistrategos ( , " over - general " ) was created in the early 2nd century BC , which survived intact into the Roman Empire . Two such existed , one for the " Chora " ( Lower Egypt except for Alexandria ) and one for the Thebaid , acting as viceroys controlling the subordinate " strategoi " of the nomes . Under the Roman Republic and later through the Principate , Greek historians often used the term " strategos " when referring to the Roman political / military office of " praetor " . Such a use can be found in the " New Testament " : Acts 16 : 20 refers to the magistrates of Philippi as " strategoi " ( στρατηγοί ) . Correspondingly , antistrategos ( " vice - general " ) was used to refer to the office of " propraetor " . The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace was also divided into " strategiai " ( " generalships " ) , each headed by a " strategos " , based on the various Thracian tribes and subtribes . At the time of the kingdom ' s annexation into the Roman Empire in 46 AD , there were 50 such districts , which were initially retained in the new Roman province , and only gradually fell out of use . It was not until ca . 136 that the last of them were abolished . Byzantine use . The term continued in use in the Greek - speaking Byzantine Empire . Initially , the term was used along with " stratelates " and , less often , " stratopedarches " , to render the supreme military office of " magister militum " ( the general in command of a field army ) , but could also be employed for the regional " duces " . In the 7th century , with the creation of the Theme system , their role changed : as the field armies were resettled and became the basis for the territorial themes , their generals too assumed new responsibilities , combining their military duties with the civil governance of the theme . The first themes were few and very large , and in the 8th century , the provincial " strategoi " were in constant antagonism with the emperor at Constantinople , rising often in rebellion against him . In response , the themes were progressively split up and the number of " strategoi " increased , diluting their power . This process was furthered by the conquests of the 10th century , which saw the establishment of several new and smaller frontier themes : while in ca . 842 the " Taktikon Uspensky " lists 18 " strategoi " , the " Escorial Taktikon " , written ca . 971 – 975 , lists almost 90 . Throughout the middle Byzantine period ( 7th – 12th centuries ) , the " strategos " of the Anatolic theme enjoyed precedence over the others and constituted one of the highest offices of the state , and one of the few from which eunuchs were specifically barred . At the same time , the Eastern ( Anatolian ) themes were senior to the Western ( European ) ones . This distinction was especially marked in the pay of their presiding " strategoi " : while those of the Eastern themes received their salary directly from the state treasury , their counterparts in the West had to raise their — markedly lower — pay from the proceeds of their provinces . During the 11th century , the " strategoi " were gradually confined to their military duties , their fiscal and administrative responsibilities being taken over by the civil " kritai " ( " judges " ) . Senior military leadership also devolved on the hands of a new class of officers titled " doukes " or " katepano " , who were placed in control of regional commands combining several themes . By the 13th century , the term " strategos " had reverted to the generic sense of " general " , devoid of any specific technical meaning . The Byzantines also used a number of variations of the title " strategos " : strategetes ( στρατηγέτης , " army leader " ) was an infrequently used alternative term ; the term monostrategos ( μονοστράτηγος , " single - general " ) designated a general placed in command over other " strategoi " or over the forces of more than one theme ; the terms strategos autokrator , archistrategos ( , " chief - general " ) and protostrategos ( πρωτοστράτηγος , " first - general " ) designated commanders vested with supreme authority ; and the term hypostrategos ( , " under - general " ) denoted a second - in - command , effectively a lieutenant general . Modern use . In the modern Hellenic Army , a stratigós ( the spelling remains στρατηγός ) is the highest officer rank . The superior rank of " stratárchis " ( Field Marshal ) existed under the monarchy , but has not been retained by the current Third Hellenic Republic . Under the monarchy , the rank of full " stratigós " in active service was reserved for members of the royal family , while Lt . Generals are promoted to the rank upon retirement ; Alexander Papagos became the first career officer to hold it in active service . Since 1970 , the rank is held in active service by the Chief of the General Staff of National Defence , when he is an Army officer . All but one of the other Greek general officer ranks are derivations of this word : antistrátigos and ypostrátigos , for Lieutenant General and Major General , respectively . A Brigadier General however is called " taxíarchos " , after a " táxis " ( in modern usage " taxiarchía " ) , which means brigade . The ranks of " antistrátigos " and " ypostrátigos " are also used by the Hellenic Police ( and the Greek Gendarmerie before ) , the Greek Fire Service and the Cypriot National Guard , which lack the grade of full " stratigós " . Fictional uses . This position was featured in Orson Scott Card ' s novel " Ender ' s Game " . In the novel , the position of Strategos was charged with overall command of solar system defense . The Strategos , along with the positions of Polemarch ( responsible for the International Fleet of space warships ) , and the Hegemon ( the political leader of Earth , rather like a stronger version of the Secretary - General of the United Nations ) , was one of the three most powerful people alive . During an earlier war described in the novel , because of a belief in their inherent luck and brilliance — specifically , that no Jewish general had ever lost a war — all three positions were filled with Jewish people : an American Jew as Hegemon , an Israeli Jew as Strategos , and a Russian Jew as Polemarch . The defeat of the Formics by half - Māori Mazer Rackham changed this position . Bean ( Julian Delphiki ) was given the title of Strategos by Peter Wiggin after he assumed the role of Hegemon . The dystopian slave - empire of the Draka , in the series of books by S . M . Stirling , also uses " Strategos " together with many other military ranks and terms drawn from Classical Antiquity , though often with only the loosest resemblance to what they originally meant . The position of ' Strategos ' was also featured in the English - language version of the Sunrise anime " The Vision of Escaflowne " ; the character Folken occupied the position when he served the Zaibach empire . The oldest use of the term " strategos " in fiction may be found in the " Callirhoe " of Chariton of Aphrodisias which is dated in the first century A . D . There , Hermocrates is the " strategos " of Syracuse and the father of Callirhoe , living in the 5th century B . C . In fact , he was a historical person , the victor over the Athenians in 413 B . C . , an event which stopped Athenian expansion to the West . His role as a character in the novel is rather limited . Although his position in Syracuse gives Callirhoe a background , and he gives consent to her marriage and fulfills a few official duties , his legal or constitutional position is not very clear .