Count of the Stable The Count of the Stable ( ; , " komēs 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 " conestable " . History and functions . The post first appears in the 4th century as the " tribunus [ sacri ] stabuli " ( " tribune of the [ sacred ] stable " ) , initially responsible for the levying of horses from the provinces . According to Ammianus Marcellinus , they ranked equal to the tribunes of the " Scholae Palatinae " guard regiments . In the " Notitia Dignitatum " , they are listed as the " praepositi gregum et stabulorum " under the " comes rerum privatarum " . By the early 5th century , as attested in the " Codex Theodosianus " , they were raised to " comites " with the rank of " vir clarissimus " , but the older title of tribune remained in parallel use for some time ( cf . " Cod . Theod . " , 6 . 13 . 1 ) . Eight holders of the office are known from the 4th century , including Emperor Valens ( r . 364 – 378 ) and his brothers - in - law Cerealis and Constantinianus . Evidently , the post was closely associated with the imperial family . Thus , Stilicho was appointed to it when he married the adopted niece of Emperor Theodosius I ( r . 378 – 395 ) , Serena . However , holders are rarely mentioned thereafter . The great 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 ( r . 565 – 578 ) , is recorded by the 9th - century chronicler Theophanes the Confessor to have held the post of Count of the Imperial Stables . The office reappears in the sources in the 820s , when the " " prōtospatharios " and " komēs tou basilikou hippostasiou " " Damian led an unsuccessful expedition against the Arabs in Crete . The Byzantine office of the " komēs tou staulou " is best known during the 9th and 10th centuries , when it was classed as belonging to the group of military officials known as " stratarchai " . Along with the Logothete of the Herds ( " logothetēs tōn agelōn " ) , he was responsible for the imperial horses in the capital , Constantinople , and for the horse ranches in the great army camp ( " aplēkton " ) at Malagina in Bithynia . He usually held the dignity of " patrikios " , and ranked 51st in the overall imperial hierarchy . During imperial processions , as well as during war , he escorted the Byzantine emperor along with the " prōtostratōr " , and played a role in the receptions of foreign ambassadors . In the 13th century , the Latin - inspired office of the " konostaulos " seems to have replaced the " komēs tou staulou " , but another title , the " komēs tōn basilikōn hippōn " ( Greek : , " count of the imperial horses " ) appears in the 14th - century treatise on offices of Pseudo - Kodinos . Aside from bringing the Byzantine 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 Byzantine 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 ( r . 1259 – 1282 ) . Subordinate officials . The staff ( " officium " ) 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 . It included :