Primus inter pares

The Latin phrase primus inter pares literally means 'the first among equals'. It indicates that a person, within a group with A level of power, authority, homogeneous in different areas – be it social, political, cultural, religious, etc. – is the most relevant within that group.

Use cases

Ancient Greece

Cases of primus inter pares government (in classical Greek, πρῶτος μεταξὺ ἴσων) are found in Ancient Greece: the basiléia (in Greek, βασιλεία).

Roman antiquity

The term was also in use during the Republic and the Roman Empire (see Princeps). It also originally referred to the figure Octavius Augustus who avoided directly calling himself emperor in the early phases of the Roman Empire, seeking to appease those who would have wanted a return of the Roman Republic.

European Early Middle Ages

It was also common among Germanic tribes, who would leave their mark during the first phases of the Visigothic monarchy in the Iberian Peninsula where the monarch was chosen from a group of nobles. It referred to the status of a leader or king in relationship with a lower stratum of vassals, generally nobles, who maintained strong levels of power, especially military. This status or form of government used to occur when the king, for whatever reason, held more of an auctoritas , but not so much a potestas . Thus, in medieval Europe, in the context of feudalism existing in many kingdoms of the Early Middle Ages, the feudal king "rules in accordance with the nobility, as a primus inter pares who does not impose his i>auctoritas».

Politics

Among the clearest examples of the use of this expression:

• the figure of prime minister in many parliamentary states, so the prime minister of many nations with Parliamentary political regime in the British Commonwealth of Nations;
• In Spain, the president of the government, at the first moment, arises when the minister of State was the figure that coordinated the other members of the cabinet and replaced the figure of the monarch. This functional preponderance ended up being organic and went directly to the other ministers;
• the case of the president of the European Commission;
• the figure of the president of the European Council from 1974 to 2008 was that of a "president-primus inter pares»;
• Al Chief Justice United States of America;
• currently the President of the Swiss Confederation is one of the seven ministers he chairs as primus inter pares. The charge is rotating annually.

Religion

Some religious figures such as:

• in the Catholic Church, papal primacy, or primates or the dean of the College of Cardinals;
• the patriarchs of various Christian churches such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, or the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion.

Judiciary

In the field of the judiciary:

• Los decanatos, o jueces decanos, en España, donde la persona titular «es un primus inter pares that assumes functions of organization of the different courts”.
• the president of a court, in Mexico, and of the Supreme Court or Council of the Judiciary.

Music

• The orchestra director, in origin, was "an integral musician of the formation, endowed with the specific function of concluding the execution, a primus inter pares. In general, this function was assumed from the position of the first violin of the orchestra. »

Other areas

Later, the term would begin to be used to indicate that a person is the oldest or most important within a group of people who share the same level or responsibility. The concept is also frequently used in its Latin original: “Primus inter pares”. When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is technically equal, but regarded as superior authority or of special importance by his or her peers. ^{[citation required]}

In some cases it can also be used to indicate that while the person described appears as an equal, they are actually the unofficial or secretive leader of a group. ^{[citation required]}

This expression is also used when making, for example, a list: there always has to be a first person, not necessarily the most important or the one with the highest status.^{[citation required]}