Vigla (tagma)

Along with the Noumeroi regiment, the Vigla formed the guard of the imperial palace in Constantinople, and was responsible for the Byzantine emperor's safety on expeditions.

[2] Its exact date of creation is contested among modern historians of the Byzantine army: Byzantinist John Haldon considers that the Vigla was established as a tagma by the Empress Irene in the 780s out of a provincial brigade,[5] but Warren Treadgold supports its creation along with the first two tagmata, the Scholai ("Schools") and Exkoubitoi ("Excubitors"), by Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775) in the mid-8th century.

[13] Members of the unit are recorded as participating in a campaign to southern Italy in 935 and in the Cretan expedition of 949, but the sources are silent about its subsequent history and eventual disbandment.

The structure of the imperial tagmata, however, was uniform and is well-attested, with minor variations, mostly in titulature, reflecting the different origins of the units.

Uniquely among the tagmata, and perhaps a reflection of its ancestry, since it was more common in the 6th century, the commander of the Vigla bore the title of droungarios, in English sometimes rendered as "Drungary of the Watch".

"placeholder, lieutenant"), a chartoularios (χαρτουλάριος [τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ]) as head of the commander's secretariat, and the akolouthos, a title unique to the Vigla but corresponding to similar subaltern officers, the proximos of the Scholai and the prōtomandatōr of the Exkoubitoi.

bandon, βάνδον, from Latin: bandum, "banner"), each of theoretically 50 men,[18] commanded by a komēs (κόμης [τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ], "count [of the arithmos]").

[8][17] The Vigla also was unique in having several ranks of messengers: along with the ordinary mandatores present in the other units, it included legatarioi (λεγατάριοι, "legatees"), thyrōroi (θυρωροί, "doorkeepers"), skoutarioi (σκουτάριοι, "shield-bearers") and diatrechontes (διατρέχοντες, "runners").