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Economy and society in the age of Justinian PDF

272 Pages·2009·2.041 MB·English
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This page intentionally left blank ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN The reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527–65) stands out inlateRomanandmedievalhistory.Justinianreconqueredfar-flung territories from the barbarians, overhauled the Empire’s administra- tive framework, and codified for posterity the inherited tradition of Romanlaw.ThisworkrepresentsthefirstmodernstudyinEnglishof thesocialandeconomichistoryoftheEasternRomanEmpireinthe reignoftheEmperorJustinian.Drawinguponpapyrological,numis- matic,legal,literary,andarchaeologicalevidence,thestudyseeksto reconstructtheemergentnatureofrelationsbetweenlandownersand peasants, and aristocrats and emperors, in the late antique Eastern Empire.Itprovidesasocialandeconomiccontextinwhichtosituate the Emperor Justinian’s mid-sixth-century reform programme, and questions the implications of the Eastern Empire’s pattern of social andeconomicdevelopmentunderJustinianforitssubsequent,post- Justinianichistory. peter sarrisisLecturerinMedievalHistoryandaFellowofTrinity College,Cambridge,andAllSoulsCollege,Oxford. ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN PETER SARRIS cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo Cambridge University Press TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521865432 ©PeterSarris2006 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006 isbn-13 978-0-511-24346-2eBook (Adobe Reader) isbn-10 0-511-24346-4eBook (Adobe Reader) isbn-13 978-0-521-86543-2hardback isbn-10 0-521-86543-3hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Listoffigures pagevi Preface vii Introduction 1 1 Egypt and the political economy of empire 10 2 TheApionarchive:economicstructureandestateaccounts 29 3 Labourandadministration:theevidenceofthecontractual papyri 50 4 Lettersandpetitions:socialrelationsinthesixth-century Oxyrhynchite 71 5 TheApionesandtheiranalogues 81 6 Onthemarginsofmagnatepower:DioscorusandAphrodito 96 7 Landscapesofpower:thegreatestatebeyondEgypt 115 8 Thehistoriographyofthegreatestate 131 9 Thegreatestateandtheimperialauthorities 149 10 Theriseofthegreatestate 177 11 EconomyandsocietyintheageofJustinian 200 Conclusion 228 Bibliography 235 Index 253 v Figures 1 P.Oxy.LVII4616 pageix 2 MapofJustinian’sempirein565 x 3 MapofEgypt xi 4 TheApionfamily 23 5 TheadministrativestructureoftheApionhousehold 79 6 Therateofexchangebetweencopperandgoldc.500–600 225 7 Copperweightpersolidusc.500–600 226 vi Preface Thisworkismeantasashortcontributiontothestudyofthepoliticalecon- omyoftheEasternRomanEmpireintheageoftheEmperorJustinian,one of the most extraordinary yet enigmatic rulers to have reigned in Byzan- tineConstantinople.ForreasonsthatwillbeexplainedintheIntroduction, however,muchofitisconcernedwiththehistoryoflateRomanEgypt.The modern historiography of Egypt from the fourth to the seventh centuries adisanimportanttopic,which,forreasonsofargumentativestructure,will notbeaddressedindetailuntilchaptereight.Itisperhapsworthsignalling at the outset, however, for the benefit of those familiar with the topic, wheremyapproachandconclusionsstandinrelationtothebroaderfield. First, I am largely in agreement with Banaji in regarding the great estates of late Roman Egypt as highly commercialised, monetised, and sophisti- catedeconomicenterprises,althoughIplacemoreemphasisthanhedoes ontheroleplayedbycoercionintheexpansionandmaintenanceofthese estates.Iamalsounconvincedbyreadingsofthesourcesthatpresentthese greatestatesas‘semi-publicinstitutions’,orthatareinclinedtoemphasise co-operative, symbiotic relations between the owners of these estates and theimperialauthorities.Formostoftheperiodinquestion,thestateonly accommodated the interests of great landowners because it had to, and it invariably emerged weaker as a result. It is my contention that the degree ofpeasantautonomyinlateRomanEgypthasbeenmuchexaggerated.My approachtothepapyrologicalsourcesisa‘bottomup’onemodelledonthat ofRathbone,althoughmysourcesdonotpermitanythinglikethedegree ofanalyticalsophisticationthathasinformedhiswork.Inparticular,along withotherswhohaveturnedtheirattentiontothematerial,Ihavefound thattheApionarchiveisnotreallyamenabletothesortofdeep,structural analysisthathasinformedsomeofthebestpapyrologicalstudiesofrecent years. Rather, the highly fragmentary nature of the archive (as it stands) invitesamorestraightforward,proceduraltechnique. vii viii Preface During the course of writing this study, I have incurred many debts of gratitude. It began life as a doctoral thesis written under the supervi- sion of James Howard-Johnston, who, both as undergraduate tutor and doctoral supervisor, was a source of constant encouragement and impec- cableadvice.JohnReaguidedmethroughthepapyrologicalsourceswith remarkable patience. Both conceptually and substantively I owe a great deal to conversations and communications with Jairus Banaji, Peregrine Horden,JohnMa,CyrilMango,MarliaMundellMango,(thelate)Geof- freydeSteCroix,andChrisWickham(withoutwhoseassistancethisbook really would not have been written), as also to my undergraduate forma- tion at Balliol at the feet of Maurice Keen and (the again late, and much missed)PatrickWormald.Thedoctoraldissertationonwhichthisbookis basedwasexaminedbyAlanBowmanandJohnHaldon,who,alongwith CambridgeUniversityPress’s‘anonymousreaders’,andmyeditor,Michael Sharp, I should like to thank. The research on which it is built owes a great deal to the forbearance of Norma Potter of the Codrington Library inOxford,thestaffofTrinityCollegeLibraryinCambridge,andthegen- erosityandcompanionshipoftheMasterandFellowsofTrinity.Turlough Stoneprovidedinvaluablesupportandreadthewholeindraft.Someolder debts need to be repaid. I was first directed to the study of Byzantium as a schoolboy by two of my history masters: Geoffrey Brown and Nigel Williams.Tothem,andtoGeraldBevan(whotaughtmehowtothink)I owemuch.Lastly,Ithankmyparentsforencouragingmychildhoodinter- estinHistoryandHellenisminallitsforms,anditistothememoryofmy latefather,AndreasCostasSarris(1937–2002)thatthisworkisdedicated.

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