Diocletian in circa AD 300. Medieval adaptations of comital offices Gothic Comites The Goths that ruled Spain and Italy followed the Roman tradition of granting the title of "Comes" to the various principals of the departments of their royal households, including but not limited to the: Comes Cubiculariorum: Count in charge of the chamberlains (L. cubicularii). Comes Scanciorum: The Count who commanded the cup bearers. Comes Stabulorum: The Count who commanded the equerries and stables. Comes Notariorum: The Count who commanded the chancery, i. e., the writing office. Comes Thesaurorum: The Count who commanded the officials of the treasury. Frankish Gaugraf The Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty retained much of Roman administration, including the office and title of "comes", the original meaning of which they preserved, i. e., a companion of the king and a royal servant of high dignity. Under the early Frankish kings some comites did not have definite functions: they were merely attached to the person of the King and executed his orders. Others filled the highest offices, e. g. the Comes Palatii and Comes Stabuli (from which the contemporary title of "constable" derives). Yet other comites served as regional officials. For administrative purposes, the Merovingian kingdoms were still divided into small Roman districts denominated "pagi" (hence the French "pays"), or similarly sized new creations "Gaue". These were smaller than the old Roman civitates ("cities", or polities) which became the basis of the new medieval bishoprics. In Carolingian times, the governor of a pagus was a Comes, corresponding to the German Graf. The King appointed the Comites to serve at his pleasure. The modern German-derived term sometimes for a count who governed a whole gau is "Gaugraf", and a gau containing several counties is sometimes called a "Grossgau". The essential competences of the Comes''' were comprehensive in his pagus: martial, judicial, and executive; and in documents he is often described as the "agens publicus" ("public agent") of the King or "judex publicus/fiscalis" ("royal judge"). He was at once public prosecutor and judge, and was responsible for the execution of the sentences as well. As the delegate of the executive power, he had the right to exercise the "bannis regis" ("royal ban"), which gave him the right to command his military in the name of the King and to act as necessary to preserve the peace. As the King's representative, he exercised the royal right of protection