Protospatharios in the context of Mihailo I of Duklja

Mihailo Vojislavljević (Serbian Cyrillic: Михаило Војислављевић) was a medieval Serbian king and the ruler of Dioclea (Duklja), from 1046 to 1081, initially as a Byzantine vassal holding the title of protospatharios, then after 1077 as nominally serving Pope Gregory VII, styled as "King of the Slavs". He had alienated himself from the Byzantines when he supported the Bulgarian Uprising of Georgi Voyteh, after which he then sought to gain support in the West. In 1077 he received royal insignia by Gregory VII in the aftermath of the Church schism of 1054.

The protasekretis or protoasekretis (Greek: πρωτ[ο]ασηκρῆτις), Latinized as protasecretis or protoasecretis, was a senior official in the Byzantine bureaucracy. The title means "first asekretis", illustrating his position as the head of the order of the asekretis, the senior class of imperial notaries.

The post evolved gradually. The first asekretis are attested from the 6th century, and several Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople and one emperor, Anastasios II (r. 713–715), were drawn from their ranks. Aside from possibly anachronistic references to Maximus the Confessor being a protasekretis under Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), the earliest confirmed occurrence (as proto a secreta) comes from the Liber Pontificalis for the year 756. As head of the imperial chancery (the effective successor of the late Roman primicerius notariorum), the position was highly influential: in the 899 Kletorologion of Philotheos, a list of court precedence of officials, he is placed seventh among the sekretikoi, the financial ministers of the state. From documents and sigillographic evidence, the holders of the office held the dignities of protospatharios, patrikios and anthypatos. Among others, the Patriarch Photios (858–867 and 877–886) held the post.

Philaretos Brachamios (Greek: Φιλάρετος Βραχάμιος; Armenian: Փիլարտոս Վահրամ Վարաժնունի, romanized: Pilartos Vahram Varajnuni; Latin: Philaretus Brachamius) was a distinguished Byzantine general and warlord of Armenian heritage. He was for a time a claimant to the imperial throne against Emperor Michael VII. Philaretos is attested on seals as taxiarches (commander of an infantry regiment), as well as protospatharios and topoteretes (deputy commander) of the Tagmata of Cappadocia, then as magistros and doux (duke), and finally as kouropalates and doux.

The Klētorologion of Philotheos (Greek: Κλητορολόγιον) is the longest and most important of the Byzantine lists of offices and court precedence (Taktika). It was published in September 899 during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912) by the otherwise unknown prōtospatharios and atriklinēs Philotheos. As atriklinēs, Philotheos would have been responsible for receiving the guests for the imperial banquets (klētοria) and for conducting them to their proper seating places according to their place in the imperial hierarchy. In the preface to his work, he explicitly states that he compiled this treatise as a "precise exposé of the order of imperial banquets, of the name and value of each title, complied on the basis of ancient klētοrologia", and recommends its adoption at the imperial table.