# protostates

> part of Ancient Greek / Byzantine phalanx: soldier in front of an epistates ('the one who stands behind'); in a file of eight soldiers, the protostates were the men in positions 1,3,5 and 7, while the epistates occupied positions 2,4,6 and 8

**Wikidata**: [Q7252131](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7252131)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protostates)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/protostates