Protostates

A protostates ^[1] (Greek: πρωτοστάτης, "the one who stands first/in front"), in Ancient Greece, was the man in front of an epistates (the one who stands behind). The Greek phalanx was made up of alternate ranks of protostates and epistates. Thus, in a file of 8 men, the protostates were the men in positions 1,3,5 and 7, while the epistates occupied positions 2,4,6 and 8.^[2] The term remained in use into the Byzantine Empire. The foremost protostates of a file (lochos) was called a lochagos (λοχαγός).

References

1. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=prwtostaths&la=greek#lexicon
2. Asclepiodotus, Tactica, 2.3