The exact date of the unit's establishment is uncertain: the Vita Ignatii, an hagiographic account of the life of Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople, records that the unit was said to have been established circa 809 by Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811), and this date is generally accepted; sigillographic evidence, however, is vague, and could support a late 8th-century establishment.
Although he was still a child, Niketas had been appointed nominal commander of the new corps of imperial guards, the Hikanatoi.
In 886, Basil discovered and punished a conspiracy by the domestic of the Hikanatoi John Kourkouas and many other officials.
John's namesake grandfather had been a commander of the elite Hikanatoi regiment (tagma) under Emperor Basil I (reigned 867–886); John's brother Theophilos became a senior general, as did John's own son, Romanos, and his great-nephew, John Tzimiskes.