BEHOLD THE MIGHT OF GLORIOUS BYZANTIUM AND ITS VARANGIAN GUARD!
Who were they? How the hell should I know??? They were not known to the citizens. They were NOT the citizens! They were not of the people; they were not of the nation.
By their nature, the Varangian Guard was composed only of foreigners. Why?
Because the Emperors of Byzantine did not TRUST his own people to defend him and his wicked tyranny. Any soldier of the nation; any native law-keeper, any man of the land, would turn on him, in order to end the threat that these wicked, tyrannical kings held.
Wikipedia says, "The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions."
So the king hired foreigners, paid with the plundered taxes of his own people. Foreigners that worked for gold. Not loyalty, not to ensure liberty, justice, freedom, or happiness of the people. The Varangian Guard cared NOTHING for the well-being of the citizens; did not care WHATSOEVER for the prosperity of the nation. No, the Varangian Guard wanted only one thing: Gold.
And so they got it, and the Emperor never had to risk his life in the hands of his own people.
Thus corruption reigned supreme.
Is your military, are your police-forces, are they your own people? Do they work for you? Or do they work for the gold of the throne? Do they share your concerns, your worries, your care for the land and nation? Or do they serve only the king and his court?
Be wary when a tyrant protects himself with foreigners, rather than his own people. It means he does not trust you. And for good reason: He is a tyrant.