Katepano
（重定向自Catepan）
![Map of the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire in 1025. The regional eastern commands, variously under doukes or katepano, are outlined. Southern Italy was under the authority of the katepano of Italy, while Bulgaria, Serbia and Paristrion were often under the authority of a single katepano.](/Images/godic/202501/03/Byzantine_Empire_Themes_1025-en.svg1914.png")
The katepánō (Greek:κατεπάνω, lit. "[the one] placed at the top", or " the topmost") was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as capetanus/catepan, and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", meaning head). This hybridized term gave rise to the English language term captain and its equivalents in other languages (Capitan, Kapitan, Kapitän, El Capitán, Il Capitano, Kapudan Pasha etc.)