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An analysis of the reasons for the prosperity of Byzantine imperial villages and small farmers in the 7th-9th century.

Kevin·Z

(Nankai University History College Tianjin 30007 1)

English title:

This paper discusses the reasons for the prosperity of Byzantine imperial villages and small farmers in the 7th-9th century. Great changes have taken place in the agricultural economy of Byzantium in the 7th-9th century. For Byzantine countries, villages and small farmers have become an increasingly important economic and social factor. This is closely related to the development and changes of Byzantine Empire in the middle period. First, the decline of the city highlights the status of Byzantine countryside and farmers; Secondly, on the one hand, foreign immigrants mainly Slavs destroyed the original urban and rural social economy, on the other hand, they also supplemented the agricultural population; Third, the implementation of the military region system has enabled small farmers and farmers and soldiers to rise side by side.

Keywords: agriculture, Slavs, cities, military system

During the 7th-9th century, the agricultural economy of Byzantium changed greatly [1] (P. 1 17), and rural areas and small farmers became more and more important economic and social factors of Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rural areas implemented the collective tax obligation system, which became an important source of the national treasury; The rural population of Byzantium was supplemented, and the agricultural population increased accordingly. The rapid growth of villages and small farmers in Byzantine Empire is closely related to the development and changes of Byzantine Empire in the middle period. First of all, the decline of cities highlights the status of rural areas and farmers; Secondly, on the one hand, foreign immigrants mainly Slavs destroyed the original urban and rural social economy, on the other hand, they also supplemented the agricultural population; Third, the implementation of the military region system has enabled small farmers and farmers and soldiers to rise side by side.

one

Since crisis of the third century, the classical cities of the Roman Empire have generally declined. Although the crisis in the eastern part of the empire is not as deep as that in the western part, it is also in this historical trend. Justinian I (Justinian I, 527-565) tried to restore the prosperity of the empire in the past. If he has made great achievements, it will only be a flash in the pan. Later, more precisely, in the later period of Justinian I's rule, the empire showed chaos and emptiness. In the last decade of his rule, there was an unprecedented shortage of funds. The army, which once reached 645,000, was reduced to150,000, and the strong fortress he built was abandoned [2] (P.82). At the same time, natural and man-made disasters have accelerated the decline of classical cities and the transformation of their functions, thus highlighting the status of villages and farmers.

In the eastern part of the empire, cities have suffered from continuous natural and man-made disasters since the 6th century, and by the second half of the 7th century, many cities have shrunk or been abandoned. In Anatolia and the eastern region, as early as around 250 AD, the Goths had already entered Pontiac Coast, Bitinia, filia and Capadocia, and occupied and looted many cities. Include Satara, Caesarea, Comana, Sevasto, Trebbi, Pegam, Nicomedes, Nicea, Prusa and Apamia. Since then, other parts of Anatolia have suffered disasters throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. In 5 15, Huns invaded eastern Anatolia from the Caucasus. In the 6th century, the Persian invasion brought great disaster to the Armenian frontline town of Orien. From 6 10, Persia successfully attacked Satara, Nicopolis, Docio in Western Europe, Diodor and Caesarea. Although Caesarea was recovered a year later, it was in ruins. After the Byzantine counterattack failed in 6 13, Tarsus and Melitine were captured, and it was not until 622 (or 623) that Iraq successfully counterattacked this trend. But from 636 to 740, Anatolian towns were attacked again. In addition, frontline cities, such as Armenia, Capadocia, Isuria, Pisidia and Kania, have been attacked almost every year in this century; The areas behind them, such as Phrygia, Galatia, Helen Pontus, Lydia, Bitinia and Pav Ragogna, are often targeted [3] (P. 107).

In addition, in the 6th-7th century, Anatolia and Balkan regions suffered serious natural disasters. In Xiaoya, the 6 12-6 16 earthquake destroyed most of Ephesus, and the city never recovered. Antioch was destroyed by two earthquakes in 526 and 529. Miletus, Aphrodite, Laodicea, Nicopolis, Annem and other cities failed to regain their former prosperity after the earthquake [3] (P.11). Infectious diseases and plagues are another factor that makes cities suffer. The most serious one is the Great Plague in 542-543, which spread to every corner of the Mediterranean world and caused unprecedented disasters in this area. According to Prokobi, the plague lasted nearly four months in Constantinople. About 5000 people died every day at the peak of plague, and tens of thousands died every day at the worst [4] (page 465). In addition, it is recorded that there were 16000 victims in Constantinople every day during the plague. When the death toll reached 230 thousand, people stopped counting [5] (page 99) Because the historical materials at that time were not clearly recorded, we can't know how many people Constantinople and other parts of the Byzantine Empire lost in this plague. Allen, a modern scholar, estimated that about 250,000 people died of the plague in Constantinople in 542-543 [6] (pp.10 ~11). Since then, Constantinople in 555-556, 560-56 1 year, 572-573, 598-599, 585-586, 608-609, 592, 6 18 and 697. These plagues also affected Persia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, resulting in the overall population decline in this area. According to Nicky Foros's A Brief History, after the plague in 747, the city of Constantinople was almost uninhabited, and the bodies were all over the reservoirs, ditches, vineyards and orchards in the city, so that in the 8th century, Emperor Constantine V (reigned 74 1-775) had to move to Constantinople from Greek and Aegean islands.

① The situation and results of attacking Balkan cities will be discussed in the next section.

Natural and man-made disasters have brought remarkable changes to the city's appearance. The first is the decline of urban population. In the face of war-torn diseases, "the urban population either stays in the same place or escapes to a safe place and becomes agriculture" [3] (P. 143). Secondly, city life is broken. Take Constantinople as an example. In the second half of the 7th century and the 8th century, only a few public works were mentioned in the literature, such as the construction of the retaining wall of Justinian II Palace and the construction of Theodosia Square [3] (P. 1 16). Moreover, urban residents turn a blind eye to the abandonment of theaters and arenas due to lack of maintenance [7] (page 225). The size of the city has shrunk again. According to the records of the Arab author Tabari, Ansila and Amalion were the largest cities in Byzantium at that time (that is, in 838), but even Ansila was only 52,500 square meters, which was actually only equivalent to a castle, and other cities were even smaller. What needs to be pointed out here is that "as far as the empire is concerned, the decline of cities is not unified, and there is no single reason. We should avoid generalizing this problem. Cities sheltered by the empire, such as provincial capitals, are better off than other cities "[7] (page 329), but" signs of decline can be seen everywhere in the Balkans and Greece "[7] (page 237).

But for the imperial government and social and economic structure, the most direct influence is the decline of urban commerce and the transformation of urban functions, which makes rural areas and farmers pay more attention to it. The prosperity of urban commerce depends on the development of rural economy and a stable environment. However, years of war have repeatedly destroyed not only the city, but also the villages around the city, so that farming, harvesting and consumption are often impossible. Market activities that rely on the safety of local transportation and exchange places have been seriously disturbed. Market activities in many places are either abnormal or simply disappear, and can only be maintained in big cities supported by the empire, such as Constantinople and coastal cities far away from attacks. The inevitable result of the decline of urban commerce is the decrease of urban income and tax paid, which makes the empire have to pay more attention to the direct producers-farmers and their villages. "Compared with the late Rome, rural areas and their individual landowners are becoming the key factors of tax collection and management in the empire" [3] (pp. 137 ~ 138).

At the same time, the functions of the city have changed, mainly reflected in the loss of urban economic independence and the weakening of administrative functions. In the past, cities had many economic sources: land rent, local taxes, commercial taxes, tributes and voluntary donations, but with the strengthening of Byzantine monarchy, the economic sources of cities were continuously deprived. The first blow to urban economic independence came from Constantine I (324-337 reigned) and Constantine I (337-36/kloc-0 reigned), who confiscated urban land and took over urban finance. Julian (36 1-364) once restored the above rights of the city, but Vallans (364-378) and Valentinian (364-375) took them back. In short, "the legislation in the 4th century shows that once a city is divorced from the state finance, it will become increasingly unable to sustain itself" [3] (page 96). For example, it is recorded that Antioch was rebuilt with the assistance of the empire after being destroyed by the earthquake in 526-529, which shows that the city has no independent economic ability to maintain itself. With the loss of urban economic independence, members of parliament and powerful families can no longer control the finances of their cities. In the former cities, the executive and legislative bodies were mainly controlled by archbishops, bishops, wealthy landlords, officials appointed by some imperial administrative agencies and relatively unimportant nobles. Of course, rich aristocrats are still found in many cities, but the general trend is that the income and expenditure of local cities are increasingly controlled by imperial officials [3] (page 98). Now, officials appointed by the central government have replaced members of Congress and their families. They are not only responsible for taxes, but also for the income and expenditure of the city. In this way, the city lost its economic and social status. "Functionally, it has changed from an autonomous and economically independent local financial and administrative institution that is both a country and its own, to an affiliated town center that has no substantive role in the imperial financial system and has no independent economic capacity." [3] (page 99). "At the same time, the municipal meeting also stopped its functions" [7] (page 225).

In short, in the 7th century, some cities were abandoned, and their economic and market functions ended under the changing situation in the 7th century. Some are still centers of population and market exchange activities, such as some independent seaports and commercial centers in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, Adriatic Sea and Southwest Asia; Many cities continue to be occupied, becoming refugee centers and military and political bases, becoming defensive rural fortresses, and the most powerful of them becoming administrative and military centers. The fate of the decline of these classical cities highlights the importance of rural areas and farmers.

two

Because the Byzantine Empire is located at the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa, it is a battleground for military strategists, so the invasion of foreign enemies almost runs through the history of the empire. However, "in the early Byzantine Empire, nothing can be attributed to the development of external factors, and nothing has a more significant impact on Byzantium in the future than Slavs' entry into the Balkans" [8] (pp.74 ~ 75). On the one hand, they destroyed the original urban and rural social economy, on the other hand, they supplemented the agricultural population.

In the early days of Justinian I's rule, Slavic tribes and Bulgarians attacked the Balkans many times. To this end, Justinian once established a strong fortifications system in Europe and Asia, such as a solid internal fortress chain behind the Danube defense line in the Balkans. From 592 to 602, Byzantine troops and Slavs fought a protracted war in the Balkans for ten years. At the beginning of the war, the Byzantine army made smooth progress, crossed the Danube several times and won the victory over Slavs and Avars. However, this isolated victory had little effect on the influx of powerful Slavs. It was extremely difficult to control these remote areas, and the enthusiasm of the army cooled down day by day, and the Balkans finally fell into the hands of Slavs. In 604, Emperor Fokas (602-6 10) tried to force Slavs to return by raising tribute, but failed. Holden believes that during most of Focas's rule, only small-scale attacks occurred, and the civil war between Heraclius (6 10-64 1) and Focas supporters actually made it necessary for Byzantine troops to withdraw from the Balkans (602), which accelerated the loss of the region. Slavs' occupation of the Balkans seems to be a rather slow process. Under the constant attack of Slavs, the only remaining centers in the Balkans include Constantinople, Thessalonica and some coastal cities in the Adriatic Sea, so that most of the Balkans and the whole inland became a completely Slavic country, which was later called Slavic region in Byzantine literature. Slavs were not satisfied with their achievements in the Balkans, but continued to March and settle in other parts of the empire. Their soldiers pointed to Macedonia and attacked Thessalonica. The city was besieged many times by countless Slavs and Avars. Although the city itself was saved, the surrounding villages fell into the hands of Slavs. The waves of Slavs and Avars kept pouring in, from Thessaly to central Greece and Peloponnesus, so Slavs far away from the sea crossed the strait to the Greek islands and even landed in Crete. Their invasion of Dalmatia was equally serious. Sarona, the local administrative center, was destroyed in 6 14, which marked the decline of Byzantine control and influence on the eastern peninsula. However, although the Peloponnesian Peninsula itself was controlled by Slavs for more than 200 years, Greece never had a permanent Slavic region. In 626, Slavs besieged Constantinople with Avars and Bulgarians. In the final bloody battle, the Slavs' fleet was defeated in August 10, and the army was forced to retreat, with heavy losses. However, Byzantium still failed to restore its previous authority here.

During the reign of Irene (797-802), Byzantium launched a large-scale attack on the Slavs in Greece. In 783, Byzantium invaded Thessalonica with Qiang Bing, and then advanced to central Greece and Peloponnesus, forcing Slavic tribes there to recognize Byzantine sovereignty and pay tribute to Byzantium. However, in the last few years of the 8th century, the Slavs in Greece rebelled against Queen Ilinyi, the Slavs in the Peloponnesian Peninsula in the early 9th century. They plundered Greece and launched a fierce attack on patra in 805, but it ended in failure. The failure of Slavs marked an important stage of re-Hellenization in southern Greece. For the Byzantines, this victory marked the restoration of Byzantium's power in the Peloponnesus after 200 years of Slavs' rule.

After 626 years, Iraq concluded a peace treaty with two Slavic peoples, inviting them to attack the Avars in the western Balkans and the south bank of the Danube, and allowing them to settle in the areas recaptured by the empire. By the early1930s, the Byzantine Empire was able to restore its territory in the east, thus stabilizing the situation in the Balkans to a limited extent and destroying the power of awar. At the same time, the Slavic population lived in the Balkans and the Peloponnesus, which made the authority of the Byzantine Empire no longer an empty concept and gained more or less peace, thus winning time for the land and population to recover from war and disaster. Although the empire has not recovered its position here before the occupation, Iraq "effectively lost the land in the Balkans to Slavs, changed the center of gravity of the empire, and was able to rebuild its authority through skillful diplomacy. Although it is superficial, it is impossible in the era of Focas "[3] (page 47). In 658, Constantine II (in 64 1-668) made an expedition to the Balkans occupied by Slavs. According to the records of Nesphorus (758-829), the Byzantine army defeated many Slavic tribes and captured a large number of people. Constantine II forced some Slavs-probably Macedonian Slavs-to recognize the hegemony of Byzantium, which was the first time that Byzantium attacked Slavs after Emperor Malicet (582-602). The Battle of Constantine II was likely to be accompanied by large-scale immigration activities to move Slavs to Xiaoya, because Slavs appeared in both Xiaoya and the Imperial Army. In 665, 5,000 Slavs abandoned by the Avars were placed in Syria. [8](p. 105). holden commented: "He (Constantine II-author's note) was the first emperor who realized that he had transferred a large number of Slavic prisoners to the barren Anatolia, not only provided soldiers for the army, but also settled the population in the areas affected by the Arab invasion" [3] (p.63), thus starting the gentleman.

In 688 (or 689), Justinian II led a large-scale successful expedition. He went deep into the territory occupied by Slavs and entered Thessalonica, forcing the Slavs nearby to admit his hegemony. Some surrendered tribes followed the victorious emperor and were placed in Shinya Province and Hopkin Military Region as small military leaders, hoping that they would supplement their troops and strengthen the fighting capacity of the Byzantine army. Justinian II not only continued the model of Constantine II, but also immigrated on a larger scale. It is recorded that the displaced Slavs provided 30,000 troops for the army. Holden pointed out that 30,000 people are undoubtedly exaggerated and may have said more than 2,000; However, the principle of the empire is clear: it is to raise families and villages, not to move by individuals, to give them land, and to recruit soldiers from among them (pages 247-248). Since then, Nicephoros I (802-8 1 1 reigned) has publicly indicated that he wants to emigrate. His immigration policy added new content, moving the original Byzantine residents to Slavic areas to weaken Slavic influence. Residents in the small runner-up area were forced to sell their property and move to Slavic areas, such as the Slavic areas in the Balkans, where they got a piece of land and served in military service. Nikephoros I's immigration pattern is of special significance, which has influenced the Slavic areas in the Balkans, especially Thrace and eastern Macedonia adjacent to Bulgaria, and may also include Greece which was later occupied by Slavs. According to Constantine Porffy Rogne-Gnetus, the Peloponnesian Peninsula was still mainly a Slavic barbarian country in the middle of the 8th century, but by the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the 9th century, Byzantium gradually strengthened its position (p. 170). To sum up, with the continuous invasion of Slavs since the 6th century, a series of changes have taken place in the attitude and policies of the empire towards Slavs. Under the general idea of restoring the Roman Empire, Justinian I attacked Slavs in an all-round way, but because of multi-line operations, instead of repelling Slavs, Slavs took control of the Balkans. On the basis of the victory in the Battle of 626, Iraq adopted the policy of concluding a peace treaty with Slavs and allowing them to settle in Byzantium. After the victory of the Balkan Campaign, Constantine II began to pursue the immigration policy against Slavs and insisted on applying it to Justinian II. Nikephoros I carried out the policy of moving Byzantine residents to Slavic areas. Generally speaking, the Byzantine emperor's policy towards Slavs experienced a change from hostile attack to resettlement. From a historical point of view, whether this change is passive or active, the immigration policy has supplemented the population shortage caused by the long-term war in the empire. For agriculture, "the empire is often trapped in uncultivated land and people settle down, which has more advantages than disadvantages" (p.23 The implementation of Byzantine military region system has promoted the prosperity of villages and small farmers. Byzantine military region system, also known as Sem system, is a military and administrative system implemented by Byzantine Empire in the 7th-12nd century. Implementing land instead of salary and establishing hierarchical system are two basic contents of Byzantine military region system. The first is the military region system, in which land is used instead of salary, military real estate is established, and then farmers and soldiers are formed. Since the end of the 6th century, the Byzantine Empire has been at war for years.

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