Α strator (Greek: στράτωρ) was a position in the Roman and Byzantine militaries roughly equivalent to a groom.
[1][2] In the Roman Empire, the stratores of the imperial court formed a distinct corps, the schola stratorum, headed by the Count of the Stable (comes stabuli), and later, in the middle Byzantine period, the protostrator (πρωτοστράτωρ, "first strator").
were typically members of the staff of Roman governors and in turn headed other, more junior stratores.
[2] The dignity of the strator belonged to those intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs), and was conferred by the award of an insigne (dia brabeiou axia), in this case a jewelled gold whip.
[3] The title appears in Western Europe from the mid-8th century onwards, possibly under Byzantine influence.