by Giuseppe Rava
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BOUKLEON HARBOUR, 10th–11th CENTURIES
Plate F2: Kentyrion of Pedatoura
The old-fashioned ‘muscled’ armour of this officer of the Constantinople ‘urban police’
or City Guard can be explained by his traditional position in the command hierarchy of the city Éparkhos.
Some officers’ helmets were covered with oriental ornamentation, and perhaps by a hood of woven silk and costly damask.
David Nicolle has observed the clear derivation of that type of headgear (kamelaukion) from Alan-Caucasian prototypes.
Source: pp.46-47, Byzantine Imperial Guardsmen 925-1025: The Tághmata and Imperial Guard by Timothy Dawson
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