The centre, which had constituted the rearguard on the march, was commanded by Kontostephanos himself, and consisted of the imperial guards units, including the Varangians and Hetaireiai, units of Italian mercenaries from Lombardy (probably lancers) and a unit of 500 armored Serbian allied infantry, as well as the Vlach cavalry.
The first known reference to the kabbadion occurs in the Kletorologion of 899, where it is mentioned as the dress of the barbarian (ethnikoi) members of the Emperor's bodyguard, the Hetaireia.