Mercenaries from northern-central Europe, in the employ of the Roman Army, equipped with mail armour, longswords and heater shields.
Since the time of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, German mercenaries served in the Byzantine army as heavy infantry. Despite the usual bad relations between the Roman Empire and the "Holy Roman Empire" (predominantly over the name and the right of each ruler to be called the Roman Emperor), mercenaries from the numerous German states served in the Roman army from the 3rd to the 14th centuries.