Αstrator (Greek:στράτωρ) was a position in theRoman andByzantine militaries roughly equivalent to agroom. The word is derived from Latinsternere ("to strew", i.e. hay, straw).
Thestrator (in Greek narrative sources often replaced with the Greek equivalent ofhippokomos) was typically a soldier, sometimes even acenturion, who was chosen from the ranks to act as a groom for a senior officer or civil official. His tasks included attending to and even procuring horses, and the supervision of the stable.[1][2] In theRoman Empire, thestratores of the imperial court formed a distinct corps, theschola stratorum, headed by theCount of the Stable (comes stabuli), and later, in the middle Byzantine period, theprotostrator (πρωτοστράτωρ, "firststrator").[1][2] In the provincial administration, seniorstratores chosen among centurions etc. were typically members of the staff ofRoman governors and in turn headed other, more juniorstratores.[1]
In the Byzantine Empire, the title was more generally used as an honorific dignity for mid-level civil and military officials from the 8th century on, which led to the actual grooms of the imperial court being distinguished as "stratores of the imperialstratorikion".[2] The dignity of thestrator 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. It ranked relatively low in the imperial hierarchy: in theKletorologion of 899, it ranks sixth from the bottom, above thekandidatos and below thehypatos.[3]
The title appears in Western Europe from the mid-8th century onwards, possibly under Byzantine influence. The variant formstarator is attested in theKingdom of Cyprus in 1402.[2]