Polemarch A polemarch ( from , " polemarchos " ) was a senior military title in various ancient Greek city state s ( " poleis " ) . The title is composed out of the " polemos " ( war ) and " archon " ( ruler / leader ) and translates as " warleader " or " warlord " , one of the nine archon tes ( " ἄρχοντες " ) appointed annually in Athens . The name indicates that the polemarchos ' original function was to command the army ; presumably the office was created to take over this function from the king . Eventually military command was transferred to the strategoi ( " στρατηγοί " ) , but the date and stages of the transfer are not clear . At Marathon in 490 BC the strategoi debated and voted on strategy , but Callimachus the polemarch had a casting vote , and he was the leader ; it is disputed whether that means he was the real , or merely the titular commander - in - chief . Certainly the polemarchos no longer had military authority after 487 / 486 BC , when archontes were appointed by lot and it could not be expected that every polemarch would make a competent commander . Thereafter the polemarch ' s main functions were legal . In the 4th Century BC , he had charge of trials of metic s ' family , inheritance , and status cases , and of the allocation to tribe - judges ( members of the Forty ) of other private actions involving metics ; and it is likely that at an earlier period , his responsibilities for cases involving aliens were more extensive . He also conducted certain sacrifices and arranged the funeral ceremony for men killed in war . Ancient Greece . Athens . The most famous " polemarchos " is probably the Athenian " archōn polemarchos " . He was of the magistrates called archon s . Originally , the polemarch was a commander of the army , but after 487 / 486 BC , when the Athenian magistrates were appointed by lot , the military duties were handled by the " strategoi " . This office also had religious and legal functions . Sparta . In the new structure of the Spartan Army introduced sometime in the Peloponnesian War , a " polemarchos " was the commander of a " mora " of 576 men , one of six in the Spartan army on campaign . ( Xenophon , Rep . Lac . XI 4 . ) On occasion however they were appointed to head armies . The six Spartan " polemarchoi " seem to have been on equal power to kings at expeditions outside Laconia and were usually descendants of the royal houses ( Herodotus , VII 173 . ) They were part of the royal army council and the royal escort ( δαμοσία ) ( Xenophon , Hell . VI 4 § 14 . ) They were supported or represented by officers ( συμφορεῖς ) . The polemarchoi were also responsible for public meals , since , by the laws of Lycurgus , the Lacedaemonians would eat and fight in the same group . Next to their military and connected responsibilities , the " polemarchoi " were responsible for some civil and juridical tasks ( not unlike the " archōn polemarchos " in Athens ) . Boeotia . Several Boeotian cities used the office of " polemarchos " for the leader of their military forces . Thebes for instance had two - possibly annually elected - " polemarchoi " . Other uses . In modern use , some fraternities , notably Kappa Alpha Psi , label their chapters ' leaders as Polemarchs . Fictional use . This position was featured in Orson Scott Card ' s novel " Ender ' s Game " . In the novel , the position of polemarch was charged with the supreme command of humanity ' s space fleets , the International Fleet . The Polemarch , along with the positions of Strategos and Hegemon , was one of the three most powerful people alive . This title was also given to the DC Comics character Artemis of Bana - Mighdall , an Amazon in the " Wonder Woman " comic books . For a period Artemis served as Paradise Island ' s co - ruler alongside fellow Amazon Philippus . Whereas Philippus oversaw the day - to - day rule of the island , Artemis oversaw its military aspects .