Stratelates

In the late Roman/early Byzantine Empire, the title was used, along with the old-established stratēgos, to translate into Greek the office of magister militum ("master of the soldiers").

[1] In the 6th century, however, Novel 90 of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) attests the existence of a middle-ranking honorific title of stratēlatēs, which ranked alongside the apo eparchōn ("former prefect").

[1][3] By the late 9th century, it ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy of imperial dignities (along with the apo eparchōn), as attested in the 899 Klētorologion of Philotheos.

[4] In the 10th-11th centuries, the term returned to its original military meaning, being used for senior generals, including the commanders-in-chief (the Domestics of the Schools) of East and West.

[1] At the same time, however, the presence of a tagma (professional standing regiment) called the Stratēlatai is attested in Asia Minor in the late 10th century, formed by Emperor John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976).