all,
As Coriolis promised, this week plays a little less tricky entry as above, so I will focus on one of the most exotic Byzantine army units from the tenth century, the guard plates.
name or Varangians floor plates, was used by the Russians, from those who came to Byzantium, as initially described as the Scandinavians. It is likely that the word derives from the Norse word Vár , que podría traducirse por 'compromiso' o 'juramento'. Describía a un grupo de guerreros que juraban lealtad a otro, observando un código de conducta común y compartiendo los posibles beneficios de la lucha.
Los primeros escandinavos que entraron en contacto con los bizantinos eran en realidad suecos del norte de Rusia, que llegaron a Constantinopla en 838 a través de los grandes ríos que cruzaban la estepa. Poco después, en 860, tras un fallido intento de saqueo de la capital del imperio, se asentaron en Rusia, alcanzando sin mucha tardanza un pacto con el emperador, por el cual se comprometían a enviarle levas de guerreros, a los cuales los bizantinos llamaban 'Rus'.
It is known that about 700 of these 'rus' took part in the attack Byzantine Crete in 911, although it was not until 988 when Emperor Basil II received 6000 men of Prince Vladimir of Kiev. Because of the intense heat of war and its obvious military qualities, Basil became his bodyguard. From that position, the floor plates behaved loyally in most cases, although there are notes in the story that reveals some cracks in such deep fidelity. For example, Harald Hardrada, who later became king of the Norwegians, was charged with illegally appropriating imperial taxes, and even the Norse sagas show him as the man who blinded the Emperor Michael V and kidnapped his niece Mary. Michael VII, on the other hand, was attacked in his own palace guards by a group of drunk (it goes without saying that the floor plates faithfully complied with the topic of drunken Vikings, to the extent that they are nicknamed 'wineskins') and in 1204 when only their axes seemed to contain the Crusaders who fought to get into Constantinople, agreed to fight only after demanding a generous increase in its paid negligible (which was about 15 nomisma, gold, per month)
In the eleventh century, the composition of the floor plates began to shift, and the Anglo-Danish clicking the emperor's service, until the latter occupied most of the seats in the guard. The last strong reference to the existence of the watch floor timber dates from the early fifteenth century, and although not specifically named in the chronicles of the fall of Constantinople, it is possible that a group of these soldiers still listed among the witnesses of that been referred to as 'imperial guard units'
part of its weapons, despite carrying Psellus notes that all rhomphaia shield and the single-edged sword that hung over the shoulder of the right shoulder, the weapon that characterized this unit was the ax, named multiple times in the chronicles of the time. Needless to say, although some many learned Greek during his stay in the big city problems with Nordic language could always be present, so the commanding officer, the Akolouthos , he was accompanied by a translator Byzantine.
And that's it for today
Greetings 
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