Protokynegos

The office first appears in the 13th-century Empire of Nicaea, although it clearly had earlier antecedents;[1] possibly the komēs tou kynēgiou (κόμης τοῡ κυνηγίου.

[2] In the Book of Offices written by pseudo-Kodinos in the middle of the 14th century, the post occupies the 41st place in the imperial hierarchy, between the megas logariastēs and the skouterios.

[5] According to pseudo-Kodinos, his functions were to hold the stirrups for the emperor when he mounted his horse, and to lead the hunters (σκυλλόμαγγοι, skyllomangoi).

He enjoyed a peculiar privilege: if during the hunt, one of the emperor's garments became smeared with blood, the prōtokynēgos received it as a gift.

[4][6] His court uniform consisted of a gold-brocaded hat (skiadion), a plain silk kabbadion, and a skaranikon (domed hat) covered in golden and lemon-yellow silk and decorated with gold wire and images of the emperor in front and rear, respectively depicted enthroned and on horseback.