Zoste patrikia

[2] Disregarding a clearly anachronistic reference to Antonina, the wife of the great 6th-century general Belisarius, as being a zostē patrikia, the title is first attested in c. 830 for Theoktiste, the mother of Empress Theodora.

[1][3] The title is last attested in literary sources (the Skylitzes Chronicle) in 1018, when it was conferred to Maria, the former Empress of Bulgaria, and finally in a series of lead seals dated to the late 11th century (see below).

[6] The zōstē patrikia functioned as the chief attendant to the empress (to whom she was usually related) and the head of the women's court (the sekreton tōn gynaikōn), which consisted mostly of the wives of high-ranking officials.

[12] The zōstē was raised to the rank in an elaborate investiture ceremony in the Theotokos of the Pharos palace chapel, which is recorded in the De Ceremoniis (I.50) of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959).

A descendant of the ancient Roman consular trabea, the golden lōros was the "most prestigious imperial insignium", and was also worn by the Byzantine emperor and a select few of his highest dignitaries such as the Eparch of Constantinople or the magistroi.

In addition, like most Byzantine titles, the dignity could be conferred as a simple honour without the requirement of service, as was most likely the case with Theoktiste and Maria, the widow of Tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria.