asiarch

Etymology

From Latin Asiarcha, from Ancient Greek Ἀσιάρχης (Asiárkhēs).

Why this word is great

ASIARCH — [Noun] A high-ranking official in Roman Asia Minor, overseeing public spectacles and sacred rites. From Latin Asiarcha, from Ancient Greek Ἀσιάρχης (Asiárkhēs), combining Asia (the region) and -αρχης (-arkhēs, "ruler"). Unlike "archon" (a generic magistrate) or "pontifex" (a Roman priest bound to the capital), the Asiarch was both civic showman and sacred steward—a figure straddling empire and locality. Picture the gilded procession through Ephesus at dusk, the scent of incense and sweat mingling in the amphitheater air, the weight of a ceremonial diadem pressing into the brow of a man who was, for a fleeting season, both king and servant. All glory is provincial in the end.

noun

One of the chiefs or pontiffs of the Roman province of Asia, who had the superintendence of the public games and religious rites.“They now begged Philip, the Asiarch, to let out a lion against Polycarp”