In the late Byzantine Empire, the term kephale (Greek: κεφαλή, romanized: kephalē, lit.
Consequently, it never became an established title or rank of the Byzantine imperial hierarchy, but remained a descriptive term.
[1] In essence, the kephalē replaced the Komnenian-era doux as the civil and military governor of a territorial administrative unit, known as a katepanikion (κατεπανίκιον, katepaníkion),[2] but also termed a kephalatikion (κεφαλατίκιον, kephalatíkion).
In size, these provinces were small compared to the earlier themata, and could range from a few villages surrounding the kephale's seat (a kastron, "fortress"), to an entire island.
By the late 14th century, with the increasing decentralization of the Empire and the creation of appanages in the form of semi-independent despotates, these senior posts vanished.