Andreas Hermoniakos was an officer in the army of the Byzantine Empire. He was a short, hawk-faced man with a bad temper. By 1305 AD, he had attained the rank of hypostrategos and commanded an army on the Danube frontier. His army consisted of three divisions each commanded by an merarch who marked his position with a large, bright banner. Each division had several regiments each commanded by a moirarch who had a smaller flag. Each regiment was made up of several companies each commanded by a tagmata whose banner was a mere streamer. A company varied in size from 200 to 400 men in order to keep the enemy from easily measuring the size of the army by counting banners.