The ''paraphylax'' (, "chief guardian") was a low-ranking provincial military office in the middle

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The ''paraphylax'' is often attested in lead seals of the 7th–9th centuries, and mentioned in lists of offices. The post was low-ranking (bearers typically held the dignities of ''

hypatos (; : , ) and the variant (; ) was a Byzantine court dignity, originally the Greek translation of Latin (the literal meaning of is 'the supreme one', which reflects the office, but not the etymology of ''). The dignity arose from the honorary ...

'', ''

strator Α ''strator'' () was a position in the Roman and Byzantine militaries roughly equivalent to a groom. The word is derived from Latin ''sternere'' ("to strew", i.e. hay, straw). The ''strator'' (in Greek narrative sources often replaced with the G ...

'', or, at most, ''

spatharios The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: ; , literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely honorary dignity in the Byzantine Emp ...

''), and apparently concerned with the maintenance of public order and/or the command of irregular forces. In seals, the office is frequently combined with provincial fiscal posts as well, such as the ''

kommerkiarios The ''kommerkiarios'' (Greek: κομμερκιάριος) was a fiscal official of the Byzantine Empire charged with the collection of the imperial sales tax or ''kommerkion''. History and functions The ''kommerkiarios'' was perhaps the successor o ...

'' or the ''

chartoularios The ''chartoularios'' or ''chartularius'' (), Anglicized as chartulary, was a late Roman and Byzantine administrative official, entrusted with administrative and fiscal duties, either as a subaltern official of a department or province or at th ...

'' of the '' genikon''.

Sources

* Byzantine military offices {{Byzantine-stub