>>27278
'Tis better to know a few things than nothing at all my dear OP.

>Varagian

It's actually a little known secret that Byzantium hired people people from Northern Europe to work as personal bodyguards for the emperor due to their height and fighting force. In return for protection, the emperor rewarded them generously with gold (also one of the main reasons why Orthodox Christianity spread across all of Russia).

They came back very wealthy after working for the emperor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_Guard

Byzantium was the main reason why Scandinavian and Russian society flourished in their early inceptions.