topoteretes

{{transl|grc|Topoteretes}} ({{langx|grc|τοποτηρητής|topotērētēs}}) was a Byzantine technical term, meaning deputy or lieutenant ({{lit.|place-warden}}). As such, it was used in different ways throughout the Empire's history. In the 9th-11th centuries, the {{transl|grc|topoteretes}} was the deputy of senior military commanders of the {{transl|grc|themata}}, the {{transl|grc|tagmata}} and the Byzantine navy. The {{transl|grc|topoteretes}} was usually placed in command of one half of the respective unit.{{ODB|last=Kazhdan|first=Alexander|authorlink=Alexander Kazhdan|title=Topoteretes|page=2095}} In the early 12th century, {{transl|grc|topoteretai}} are found as commanders of small regions and fortresses, while in the late Palaiologan period, the term was used for representatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople in sees that now lay outside the Byzantine Empire's borders.