Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium.

Episode 120.

The Magnates

Last time we discussed the commercial life of the Roman Empire, with a particular focus

on why trade was not the primary cause of the revival in economic life.

Though commercial activity was vital and growing, it was the land tax which was filling

the state's coffers.

More people were being born, more land was being cleared to feed them, more produce was

being sold.

As I hinted at last week though, this recovery was leading to an uneven distribution of wealth.

In a story that may sound familiar, the wealthy were exploiting the new conditions to enrich

themselves.

This is of course a development which most societies across history have had to deal with, but

in the Byzantine case it will play a leading role in the major developments of the next

three centuries.

Everywhere across the empire, the recovery was being felt.

It obviously in Anatolia, but also over in Greece.

Nicefros had installed themes there a century ago and they had done their job.

No invasions had come from the north and they had enjoyed a fairly peaceful time.

As you can imagine, when it came to clearing and cultivating new land, the well-off were

in a better position than those just getting by.

Only then, across the ninth century, it was the elite and the church whose holdings expanded

...