The office and the corresponding unit appear to have initially referred to ad hoc arrangements, but during the early 7th century these were formalized, like much of the East Roman army's rank structure.
[5] Judging from the unit's name and the peculiar titles of its officers, it also had a considerable ancestry, dating back to the East Roman army,[6] but it is unknown exactly when it was constituted as a tagma.
[8] In the 10th century, when several holders of the post were scions of the most prominent families of the military aristocracy, including Eustathios Argyros, John Kourkouas and Manuel Kourtikes,[1] the droungarios occupied the 36th place in the imperial hierarchy and usually held the senior court dignities of anthypatos, patrikios or prÅtospatharios.
[38][39][40] The holders of the post belonged to some of the most distinguished families of the civil aristocracy, including such men as Eustathios Rhomaios, John Skylitzes and Andronikos Kamateros.
[52] The Grand Droungarios's distinctive court dress, as reported by Pseudo-Kodinos, consisted of a gold-brocaded hat (skiadion), a plain silk kabbadion tunic and a staff (dikanikion) with a gilded knob on top, and covered with golden-red braid below.