Prōtospatharios (Greek: πρωτοσπαθάριος) was one of the highest court dignities of the middle Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to foreign princes.[1]
^The term "prōtospatharios" was often abbreviated in seals and documents as άσπαθάριος, from the Greek numeral α', "one, first".