Historically more significant, "
comes" became a secular title granted to trusted officials of the Imperial
Curia ("Court"), present or former, and others as sign of Imperial confidence. It developed into a formal, dignitary title, derived from the "
Companions" of
Alexander the Great and rather equivalent to the
Hellenistic title of "
philos basilikos" or the
paladin title of a
knight of the
Holy Roman Empire and a
Papal Palatinus. Thus the title was retained when the titulary was appointed, often promoted, to an office away from court, frequently in the field or a provincial administration. Subsequently, it was thought logical to connect the title to specific offices that demanded an incumbent official of high dignity, and even to include it as part of the official title. As the Imperial Roman
Curia increased in number and assimilated all political power, the
Roman Emperors instituted a casual practice of appointing faithful servants to offices. This had been done elsewhere, e. g. regarding the
Prefect of the Praetorian Guard and the
amici principis. As Imperial administration expanded, however, new offices became necessary and decentralization demanded modifications. The result was the institution of the rank of "
comes". The "
comites", often translated as "counts", though they were neither feudal nor hereditary, became principal officials of the later
Roman Empire. They held offices of all kinds from the army to the civil service, while retaining their direct access to the Emperor.
Emperor Constantine I finalized them as the governmental echelon of "
comites provinciarum" ("counts of the provinces"); the
comites of the new echelon were assigned alongside the
vicarii in the
civil dioceses of the latter so that the
comites became permanent fixtures of Imperial government. The
comites were fully enumerated as early as the beginning of the AD 5th century in the
Notitia Dignitatum, but as offices were later added, it is not historically exhaustive. The following sections describe examples of the kinds of
comites.
At court or in the Imperial domains Several of the major departments of the Imperial
Curia ('Court') and household had a principal official who was
styled "
comes" and assisted by an "
officium" ('staff') very similar to that of a
Roman governor. They included: •
Comes dispositonum: a deputy to the very powerful
magister officiorum (master of offices) responsible for organizing the Imperial calendar and preparing the correspondence for distribution to the proper offices for transcription. •
Comes domesticorum: a
vir illustris who was principal of the
domestici, a corps of bodyguards of the Emperor who were stationed in the Imperial Palace. There were two of these comital commanders, the
comes domesticorum equitum for the equestrian knights and the
comes domesticorum peditum for the foot soldiers. •
Comes privatae largitionis: the custodian of the privy purse, who answered and was subordinate to the
comes rerum privatarum (see next title). •
Comes rerum privatarum: a powerful Imperial official responsible for the private estates and holdings of the
Emperor and his family (
res privata). He maintained the properties and collected the rents, of which most were deposited in the
Aerarium, i. e., the treasury of the public funds of the State, and some in the
Fiscus, i. e., the treasury of privy funds of the Emperor that the
comes privatae largitionis administered. •
Comes sacrarum largitionum: a
vir illustris who was custodian of the
sacrae largitiones ('sacred Largesses') of the
Emperor and manager of the Imperial finances. He controlled all of the mints, each managed by a
procurator; was the principal of numerous officials, including more
procuratores,
rationales, and
praepositi, who collected senatorial taxes, custom duties, and some land taxes; was responsible for the yields of the mines; provided budgets for the civil service and armies; supplied all uniforms; and was competent for the minor offices of: •
Comes auri: the official responsible for gold. •
Comes sacrae vestis: the master of the wardrobe of the Emperor. • The 3
comites largitionum: the regional financial administrators of
Italy,
Africa, and
Illyricum. •
Comes commerciorum for
Illyricum. •
Comes metallorum per Illyricum: the official responsible for that region's gold mines. Exceptionally, a gubernatorial position was styled
comes. For example, the
comes Orientis, actually one of the
vicarii, was an official who controlled the large and strategically important Imperial
Diocese of the East by supervising the governors of this collection of provinces, but he was in turn supervised by the
praefectus praetorio Orientis. Further, the principal officials of some less important governmental departments who were under the authority of otherwise styled, high ranking, territorial officials could be titled
comes, e. g. under the
praefectus urbi of
Rome, himself a
vir illustris, was a
comes formarum,
comes riparum et alvei Tiberis et Cloacarum ('count of the coast of the Tiber and the Canalisation'), and
comes portus ('count of the port'). The title
comes consistorianus or
comes consistorialis indicated specially appointed members to the
consistorium, the council of the Roman emperor's closest advisors.
Comes rei militaris The held martial appointments, and commanded . He ranked superior to a but inferior to the or ; he functioned as the superior of a series of military stations, each commanded by a ("border commander") and/or as a unit commander, e. g., of tribunes of cohorts, of (auxiliary equivalents), of , and in the
Eastern Empire even of
legions. The
Notitia Dignitatum of the early-5th century AD enumerates six such offices, being of the dignity of , in the
Western Empire: , , , , and ; as well as two in the Eastern Empire: and . • : official responsible for the defense of
Roman Africa. • : official responsible for the defense of part of
Gallia. • : official responsible for the defense of the other part of
Gallia. • : official responsible for the defense of
Britannia. This office presumably expired , when the last Roman troops left that province. • : official responsible for the defense of the Saxon shore of
Britannia. • : official responsible for the defense of
Hispania. As the number of increased, that dignity became devalued. This resulted in the introduction of classes of , denominated and ranked the first, second, and third "".
Comites dominorum nostrorum The
comites dominorum nostrorum (plural of
comes dominorum nostrorum; ) were a mounted Imperial bodyguard during the
tetrarchy of
Emperor Diocletian in circa 300 AD. ==Medieval adaptations of comital offices==