Aulic titulature is a term, derived from the Greek aulè and Latin aula (in the meaning palace), for hierarchic systems of titles specifically in use for court protocol.
In Ptolemaic Egypt, diadochos (διάδοχος, "substitute")[1] was the lowest aulic rank, under philos [basilikos] (φίλος [βασιλικός], "[royal] friend"), archisomatophylax (ἀρχισωματοφύλαξ, "arch-bodyguard"), protos philos (πρῶτος φίλος, "first friend"), homotimos (ὁμότιμος, "[nearly] equal dignitary") and syggeneus (συγγενεὺς, "cognate of the crown"), during the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204–181 BC).
Scholars describe the aulic titulature as a complex system, and stress that the meanings of many of the attested titles within it are unknown.
[2] One approach to understanding it is through the view that it is a form of formalised informality where a philos' power position, for instance, at court was indicated by his title and not necessarily fixed by it.
[3] It is commonly supposed that the institution of a system of court ranks and titles was intended to reinforce the bond between the monarch and his ministers by playing on the vanity of the courtiers.