: στρατάρχαι (archaic) or στρατάρχες (modern)) means 'ruler of the army' in Greek, and is a title associated with successful generals.

The term originated in the Byzantine Empire, where, in the 9th to 11th centuries, the stratarchai were a class of senior officials in charge of military finances and administration, including the hetaireiarches (commander of the foreign imperial guards), the droungarios of the Fleet, the logothetes ton agelon who supervised the army's horse-breeding farms, the komes tou staulou (Count of the Stable) and the protospatharios of the basilikoi anthropoi.

In this use it is for instance used to describe the famed literary hero Digenis Akritas, or famous past commanders, such as Belisarius.

In this capacity, the rank was first awarded to King Constantine I in 1913, following the victorious Balkan Wars.

In addition, Lieutenant General Theodoros Grivas was bestowed the rank on 23 October 1862 for his leadership in the revolt that led to the ousting of King Otto, but died the following day, before it could be conferred to him in person.