The Count of the Stable (Latin: comes stabuli; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κόμης τοῦ σταύλου/στάβλου|komes tou staulou/stablou) was a late Roman and Byzantine office responsible for the horses and pack animals intended for use by the army and the imperial court. From Byzantium, it was adopted by the Franks, and is the origin of the post and title of constable, via the Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: conestable.[1] [2]
The post first appears in the 4th century as the Latin: [[tribunus]] [sacri] stabuli ('tribune of the [sacred] stable'), initially responsible for the levying of horses from the provinces.[3] According to Ammianus Marcellinus, the holders of the post ranked equal to the tribunes of the Latin: [[Scholae Palatinae]] guard regiments.[4] In the Latin: [[Notitia Dignitatum]], they are listed as the Latin: [[praepositus|praepositi]] gregum et stabulorum under the Latin: [[comes rerum privatarum]].[5] By the early 5th century, as attested in the Latin: [[Codex Theodosianus]], they were raised to Latin: [[comes|comites]] with the rank of Latin: [[vir clarissimus]], but the older title of tribune remained in parallel use for some time (cf. Latin: Cod. Theod., 6.13.1).
Eight holders of the office are known from the 4th century, including Emperor Valens and his brothers-in-law Cerealis and Constantinianus. Evidently, the post was closely associated with the imperial family, as affirmed further when Stilicho was appointed to it on the occasion of his marriage to the adopted niece of Emperor Theodosius I, Serena. However, holders are rarely mentioned thereafter. The distinguished general Flavius Aetius held the post in 451, and in the 6th century, the variant "Count of the Imperial Grooms" was conferred on leading generals such as Belisarius and Constantinianus, while Baduarius, a relative of Emperor Justin II, is recorded by the 9th-century chronicler Theophanes the Confessor to have held the post of 'Count of the Imperial Stables'.[3] The office reappears in the sources in the 820s, when the " and " Damian led an unsuccessful expedition against the Saracens in Crete.
The Byzantine office of the is best known during the 9th and 10th centuries, when it was classed as belonging to the group of military officials known as . Along with the Logothete of the Herds, he was responsible for the imperial horses in the capital, Constantinople, and for the horse ranches in the great army camp at Malagina in Bithynia. He usually held the dignity of, and ranked 51st in the overall imperial hierarchy.[3] During imperial processions, as well as during campaigns, he escorted the emperor along with the, and played a role in the receptions of foreign ambassadors.
In the 13th century, the Latin-inspired office of the seems to have replaced the, but another title, the 'Count of the Imperial Horses' (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κόμης τῶν βασιλικῶν ἴππων,) appears in the 14th-century treatise on offices of Pseudo-Kodinos. Aside from bringing the emperor his horse and holding it while he mounted it, the functions of this office are unknown. He does not appear to have held a rank within the court hierarchy, but his proximity to the emperor did apparently lead to some influence, as in the case of Constantine Chadenos, who rose from this post to high political offices under Emperor Michael VIII .[3]
The staff of the Count of the Stable is not explicitly mentioned in Byzantine sources, but its composition for the 9th and 10th centuries can be inferred, at least in part, from various sources. It included: