Paramonai

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Paramonai were a small Byzantine guard unit from the late Palaiologan era. Their name comes from the Greek word for “to stand near.” Unlike the famous Varangian Guard, the Paramonai were a native Byzantine regiment, but not much is known about them. They are documented from 1272 to 1315. A later writer, Pseudo-Kodinos, says the regiment had two divisions—one foot soldiers and one horsemen—each led by an officer called an allagator, and that all the soldiers carried swords. How reliable Kodinos’s account is remains uncertain.