Gymnasiarch (Latin: gymnasiarchus, from Greek: γυμνασίαρχος, gymnasiarchos), which derives from Greek γυμνάσιον (gymnasion, gymnasium) + ἄρχειν, archein, to lead, was the name of an official of ancient Greece whose rank and duties varied widely in different places and at different times.
In Classical Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, a gymnasiarch was chosen annually from each tribe to bear the expenses of the torch races (see Lampadephoria).
The name seems to imply that the gymnasiarch had also certain rights and duties in the gymnasia during the training of the youths, but there is no definite information on this subject.
He had the general oversight of order and discipline in the gymnasium of the epheboi and sometimes financed heavy expenses from his own purse.
The same name was given to rich epheboi, who undertook for a longer or shorter period, generally one month, to bear certain heavy charges for their comrades, such as the expenses of festivals, or of furnishing the oil needed in the gymnasium.