Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 174, the economic recovery.

Between 540 and 740 AD, life for a Roman farmer was about as miserable as it gets.

Plague, invasion, depopulation, raiding, taxation, occupation, eviction, you name it, they suffered it.

Thankfully, the first of those nightmares, the plague, began to abate as the 8th century,

wore on. The 9th century saw defenses improve and raids become less devastating, and now,

the 10th and early 11th centuries for large parts of the empire have brought peace.

This means that the population grew, more land was cultivated, more trade took place,

and more money was made. As usual, our historians and archaeologists

have to work hard to uncover definitive evidence of this, Byzantine sources remain thin on the ground.

So here are a few examples of the work that's been done to shed light on the empire's economy.

The first are the kind of major surveys which we discussed in our interview with John Haldon

back in episode 130. By studying plant pollen and carbon dating other organic matter,

we can uncover the use of the land in different parts of Romania.

These surveys show the expansion of Byzantine settlements across this period.

Wooded areas were cleared and pasture land was cultivated. Across Greece and the coasts of Anatolia,

we see the growth of arable land and the reappearance of man-made structures.

A good example of this was discovered at Nysia. As some of you know, Nysia was built adjoining

a large lake, and back in pre-Bizantine times, the Romans created an artificial outlet which contained

the lake on its western side. This allowed large areas of good farmland to be reclaimed from the

waters and settled. But the outlet had to be continuously maintained or it would silt up.

During the 7th century, this is exactly what happened as the population of the area dropped.

By 1025, the local authorities seem to have got to work and reopen the channel, allowing the land

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