As befitted a Byzantine emperor, Theodore began setting up a court at his new capital, and dispensed the usual court titles to his relatives and followers. Not much is known about the men that staffed Theodore's regime; most of the available information comes from the writings of Chomatianos. Theodore's brothers Manuel and Constantine were raised to the rank of Despot, the long-serving John Plytos became "panhypersebastos" and "mesazon" (chief minister), and a number of scions of old Byzantine aristocratic families, who had sought refuge in Epirus, were appointed as provincial governors alongside members of the local aristocracy. The title of "doux" was used, but unlike earlier times these were mostly civilian governors with little military authority. Theodore awarded titles with such largesse that formerly exclusive titles such as "sebastos" or "megalodoxotatos" were devalued and came to be held by city notables. His Nicaean rivals, notably Akropolites, mocked him for the haphazard way in which the titles were used and awarded, ignoring the old customs of Constantinople, as if he were "a Bulgarian or rather a barbarian". To secure his new capital, Theodore instituted a guard of "Tzakones" under a "kastrophylax".