[3] In Ptolemaic Egypt, the toparches was usually an Egyptian, and was responsible for the collection of revenue and administration, much as the nomarchēs for the nomos and the komarchēs for each komē.
[2] In an account, the toparchies constituted the hyparchies such as Gaulanitis, Galilea, Samaria, Judea, Perea, and Idumaea during New Testament times.
[5] In the 6th century, in the Novellae Constitutiones of Emperor Justinian I, the term toparchēs was used to encompass all local magistrates, both civilian and military.
[6] More often, however, Byzantine writers use the term to refer to local monarchs, especially during the 10th–13th centuries, when, according to the Byzantinist Paul Lemerle, "a toparchēs is the independent ruler of a foreign territory adjoining the Empire...
[6][7] In this context, the late 11th-century writer Kekaumenos dedicates a large part of his Strategikon to advising the toparchēs on his conduct and dealings with the emperor and the other Byzantine governors.