Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία ΙΔΡΥΜΑ ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
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Trade with the East (Byzantium)

Συγγραφή : Dimitroukas Ioannis (28/11/2003)
Μετάφραση : Chrysanthopoulos Dimitrios

Για παραπομπή: Dimitroukas Ioannis, "Trade with the East (Byzantium)",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=8052>

Εμπόριο με την Ανατολή στη Μ. Ασία (Βυζάντιο) (6/3/2010 v.1) Trade with the East (Byzantium) (15/12/2011 v.1) 
 

1. Introduction

1.1 The location

The locations and the routes of the Byzantine trade with the East until the end of the 13th century can be traced in the greater region of the Near East, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Black Sea and Cherson. It is obvious that this entry deals with the Byzantine trade with the East in the degree that it was conducted through Asia Minor or its periphery on the way to Constantinople.

Two types of trade were conducted: regional trade (a range of 50 kms to 300 kms) between the border regions of Asia Minor, especially the region of Trebizond, and the neighbouring regions, and interregional or international trade (a range beyond 300 kms), which involved the valuable products of the East (spices, perfumes and dyes). Both cases involved trade networks extending beyond the borders of Asia Minor.1

1.2 The sources

The available evidence of the Byzantine trade is fragmentary and comes from a wide range of sources, most important of which are coins, seals of kommerkiarioi and inscriptions on tombs of merchants who died during their journeys. Legal sources include the Decree on Prices by Diocletian (284-305), the Rhodian Sea Law (6th-8th century), the Novellae by Leo VI (886-912) and the Book of the Eparch, a series of provisions concerning the guilds of Constantinople, revised some time between September 911 and May 912. Other sources include Expositio totius mundi et gentium, written by an unknown author in the middle of the 4th century, Προς τον ίδιον Υιόν Ρωμανόν (De administrando imperii) and Περί των βασιλικών ταξειδίων (Three Treatises on Imperial Military Expeditions) by Constantine VII Porphyrogennitos (913-959) and scattered information in chronographic and historical texts. The hagiographic texts offer another important source of information about trade in the provinces of Asia Minor. The Greek and Latin sources are also complemented by the Arab literature, especially geographic and historical texts, as well as the archive material about the Arab trade, surviving in the Jewish synagogue of Cairo (Geniza archive). Finally, tangible evidence of the Byzantine civilization survives in museums and private collections: silk fabrics, miniature pieces of art, gemstone decorations, etc. When combined, these sources offer a satisfactory image of the Byzantine trade in general and the trade of Asia Minor with the East in particular, despite their fragmentary nature.

2. Early Byzantine period: imports and exports

2.1 Greatly prized products

During the Early Byzantine period, the provinces of the central plateau of Asia Minor were the main exporters of products. Cappadocia exported clothing made of hareskin, beautiful “βαβυλωνιακές” (Babylonian) furs and imperial horses,2Galatia and Phrygia produced exquisite (most probably woolen) clothing3 and the famous vestis laodicena (a kind of clothing) was made in Laodikeia Trimetaria, the capital of Phrygia. It is worth noting that the industry of woolen clothing in Asia Minor continued to flourish during the Middle and Late Byzantine period.

According to ecclesiastical author Philostorgios, among the gifts which Theophilos of India, the ambassador of Constantius II (337-361), offered to the ruler of the Homerite Arabs in Arabia (modern Yemen), no less than 200 Cappadocian horses of exquisite breed were included.4 The robust and beautiful horses were particularly appreciated as diplomatic gifts, since their price in the international market were extremely high or even unreachable. It is known that the Persian ambassadors to the Byzantine court also used to offer horses as gifts.

Persia, apart from the famous Parthian horses, exported to Byzantium a series of greatly prized plant products, used in perfume making and medicine: galbanum (the root of the plant Ferula gummosa, syn. Galbaniflua), sarcocolla (a gum from the plant astragalus tenuifolius), sagapenum (the plant Ferula persica), the plant Asa foetida, etc.5 According to the Arab author of Hudud-al-Alam, written in Chorasmia in the 9th century, the wealth of the eastern provinces of Asia Minor (Rum›Roman) came from the production of large amounts of silk, silk fabrics interwoven with gold, other fabrics, tapestries, laces, etc.6 These products were exported to the Turkmen of central Asia, as gathered from the description of the journey of Ibn Fadlan to the Bulgarians of the Volga.7

2.2 Staple commodities

The agricultural products of the central plateau of Asia Minor, especially grain, were not exported; when the crop was rich, the products were doomed to rot, “να σαπίζουν επί τόπου”, according to Prokopios,8 due to the high cost of transportation which multiplied their initial price, depending on the distance between the place of production and the port of destination. Thus, they were seldom traded.9 On the other hand, the agricultural products of the coastal zone of Asia Minor, especially oil, different varieties of wine and grain, crocus and different perfumes (iris, spikenard, lion’s leaf) from Cilicia, were exported during the 5th and 6th century from Korasion and Korykos.10 At the same time, oil from Pamphylia,11 wine, oil, rice and purple dye from Asia,12 grain, wine and oil from Hellespont,13 were also traded. Some of these products satisfied the needs of the interior market and others were exported. The export of agricultural products was necessary in order to balance the huge expense required for the import of the valuable products of the East.

2.3 Trade in the Black Sea

Ships full of wine, salt and grain,14 as well as clothing and jewellery, made the journey from Trebizond to Lazica.15 It is recorded that a caravan of 30 mules, loaded with flour, wine, oil, linen fabrics and sacred vessels, was sent to the Sabir Huns of Albania of Caucasus, according to the converting policy of Justin I (518-527).16 The caravan most probably set off from the neighbouring Roman cities of Crimea. It is obvious that these products could also be obtained by the people of Caucasus through trade. On the other hand, the Laz provided Byzantium with gold,17 hides, furs and slaves or even honey, a product abundant in Suania.18 The eunuchs of Abasgia, greatly prized in Constantinople, were most probably traded through Lazica.19 They were transported mainly by the ships of Trebizond, whereas the small ships of the Colchs, people living in the estuary of Phasis, were used exclusively for the transportation of the ambassadors of the court of the Laz rulers to and from the Byzantine provinces.20

3. Trade routes and trade centres

3.1 The commercial road network of Pontos

Information about the trade of Pontos with the lands of Caucasus during the 6th century can be found in Prokopios. The urban centres of the southeastern and eastern shores of the Black Sea were the base of a much-frequented sea route with commercial and military importance for the empire. These centres included Trebizond, the fortress of Petra, which was built in the decade of 530 and became the base of the commercial activity of the notorious monger John Tzibos,21Phasis, Nikopsis, Dioscurias (Sebastopolis) and Pityous. Another route with commercial interest for the Byzantines was the route of the «ναυσίπορος” (navigable) Phasis and its confluents, a region with a high population density and an important number of cities and fortresses.22

3.2 Trade with the Persian state

When talking about interregional or international trade, it is important to bear in mind the trade with the Persian state during the Early Byzantine period. The trading locations had been designated by bipartite treaties: Artaxata in Persarmenia, Kallinikon, on the eastern bank of Euphrates, and Nisibis. Artaxata was connected with the neighbouring cities of Trebizond and Theodosiopolis through the excellent road network of Armenia. The two variants of the northern version of the Silk Road passed through Artaxata: the road to the passes of Caucasus and the road to the interior of the Persian state correspondingly. The valuable products of the East were cleared through the customs of Artaxata, before they were transported to Theodosiopolis or Trebizond and from there to the interior of Asia Minor or along the northern shore of Asia Minor to Constantinople. During the 6th century, it seems that neighbouring Dwin replaced Artaxata as the meeting point of the Byzantine merchants with merchants from Iberia and Armenia and the place of clearing through the customs of the exotic products of the East.

The other two entry gates of the products of Asia in the Byzantine domain were Kallinikon and Nisibis. Nevertheless, the larger part of the products which were transported overland ended in the ports of Syria (Antioch, Tyros and Beirut) and from there to Constantinople overseas. Another part of the products of the East arrived in Constantinople among the luggage of the frequent Persian embassies, owing to the fact that the ambassadors had the right to trade inside the Byzantine domain, according to the bipartite treaties. The embassies usually followed the great road artery of Asia Minor, known as the Pilgrims Road. Following the treaty of 562, this status quo was modified: The customs of Daras replaced the customs of Kallinikon and Artaxata and were designated, along with Nisibis, as the place of inspection of the products imported into Byzantium by Persian and Saracen merchants.23

Both wholesale and retail merchants conducted the Byzantine-Persian trade. John of Ephesus cites the case of two brothers working as agents or representatives of a Syrian wholesale merchant. They were paid five or six gold coins per year (the salary of a simple soldier) and worked for a period of twenty years in order to raise their salary to five, twenty and thirty coins successively (the salary of a lower military official) and initiate their own business in Amida and Melitene.24

3.3 Commercial relations with the Turks (Turans) of Central Asia

The deterioration of the relations with the Persians around 568 led the Byzantine authorities to attempt the opening of the road of Caucasus, with Trebizond as its starting point, in order to gain access to the markets of Central Asia without paying the heavy customs duties imposed on the greatly prized products of India and China. This attempt was initially successful. Under the provisions of the commercial and military treaty signed between Byzantine ambassador Zemarchos and the khan of the Turans of Central Asia,25 silk and other valuable products started flowing into Byzantium through the road of Caucasus and Trebizond.

The merchants traveled along with the embassies which were exchanged between the two states from 570 to 576. The Turk and Sogdian merchants and ambassadors in Constantinople resided and stored their merchandise in mitata.26 Nevertheless, the break of the Byzantine-Turk diplomatic relations around the eight decade of the 6th century rendered the commercial road of Caucasus useless. The journeys of the Turk and Sogdian merchants and the flowing of merchandise from Central Asia now followed the road of Crimea.27 This is obvious both from archaeological evidence (among other things, findings from the tomb of a Sogdian merchant found in Northern Caucasus, dating back to the late 7th century) and information from China brought to Byzantium by Sogdian merchants around 630, which was included in Ιστορία by Theophylaktos Simokattes.28 From Crimea the precious products of the East were conveyed through Trebizond or Sinope to Constantinople.

4. The “dark ages”

4.1 General estimates

During the so called “dark ages” (7th-8th century), the interior trade of Asia Minor entered a period of noticeable decline, as a result of the devitalization of the urban centres (decrease of the inhabited space, relocation or abandonment of cities). This decline was reflected on the decrease of currency circulation.29 Nevertheless, money was still used in trade.

The kommerkiarioi played an important part in the provincial trade of the Byzantine state in general and Asia Minor in particular during the 7th and 8th century. They were granted by the state the right to organize the production of silk and sell the product to metaxarioi (silk breeders). According to the predominant version, the kommerkiarioi were state officials who also acted as entrepreneurs and profited from the trade of silk and other products.30 It is clear, even though it is not known to what degree, that the kommerkiarioi were also involved in the long distance trade, which never ceased in Byzantium.31 The operation of commercial maritime companies under the name chreokoinonia, mentioned in the legal compilation “Νόμος Ροδίων Ναυτικός” (Rhodian Sea Law), and the involvement of independent sailors and shipowners in the maritime trade of food and luxury goods are also associated with long distance trade.32

4.2 Special cases

Some researchers claim that the long distance trade might have been passing through Ephesos and Trebizond, although this can not be proved positively before the 9th century.33 An annual trade fair was held in Ephesus, most probably organized by the Church of the city, which at the end of the 8th century yielded profits, a tax called kommerkion (most probably 10% of the price of merchandise), of 100 litres of gold or 7.200 gold coins. This means that the transaction value reached a height of 72.000 gold coins.34

According to the Life of St. Gregory Dekapolites, entire commercial fleets anchored in the port of the city at the beginning of the 9th century.35 This reinforces the claim that the trade fair of Ephesus served not only the regional trade, but also the interregional or international trade. The Radhanites, famous Jewish merchants, played an important part in the trade of the luxury goods of the East since the middle of the 9th century, travelling to the Far East, the Mediterranean and the West. One of their sea routes connected Egypt with Constantinople, off the western shore of Asia Minor.36

4.3 Trade with the Arab caliphate

The trade with the Arabs was conducted overseas during that period. The luxury goods of the East were transported at the end of the 7th century from the port of Tyros to Constantinople. Cyprus served as a kind of border station. The Byzantine imperial dioiketes inspected cargoes and ships and granted entrance permits to the Byzantine state, according to Arab author Al-Mas΄udi. Alexandria is cited as a destination point of the Greek merchants at the beginning of the 8th century. The merchant ships sailing from Constantinople to the cities of Syria or Egypt followed the traditional route along the islands and the shore of the western Asia Minor with the important ports of Smyrna and Ephesus. The overland trade suffered from the frequent wars between the Arab caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. During the reign of the Abbasid caliph Mahdi (775-785), the Arab merchants obtained a temporary permit to transit through the Byzantine border. This means that the commercial communication between the two states in times of war was forbidden, if not totally impossible.37

5. The centuries of prosperity

5.1 Facts and estimates

The period of great prosperity of the trade of Asia Minor started in the middle of the 9th century. The population and the number of cities started growing, the trade fairs becoming more frequent, the merchants acquiring great economic power. During the 11th century, the power and influence of the Byzantine commercial class is evident by the important political privileges granted to them.38 These developments led to the reinforcement of the interior market and a greater demand for luxury goods. The trade with the Arab caliphate was also reinforced.

The grain produced in northeastern Asia Minor was gathered in Trebizond and was cleared through the customs, along with silk fabrics interwoven with gold and other fabrics, which were exported to the Arab world, and the imported exotic products of the East (perfumes, spices, dyes),39 which were forwarded to Constantinople, usually overseas. The main product of Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia and Syria was storax-styrax (resin). The larger part of the production came from the region with the modern name Agiya (between Attaleia and the Lamos river) and was destined for export: the styrax of Agiya was exported from the port of Attaleia to the entire world.40 Another known product of the region was the gum tragacanth, produced from the tree “αστράγαλος τραγακάνθου” (astragalus tragacanthus). It came from the inland of Anemourion and was exported from the port of Drakontais (Foxe Dragante of the western sources).41

Great trade fairs were held on the Lamos river, the border between the Muslim market of Tarsus and the theme of Seleukeia and also a place of prisoner exchange. Many Byzantine merchants of silk, silk fabrics, perfumes and spices participated.42 In the region of Augustopolis of the theme of Anatolikon, an annual trade of perfumes was held.43 The Arab governor of Tarsus entered the abandoned city of Amorion during his campaign in the summer of 931 and took over “μεγάλες ποσότητες εμπορευμάτων και τροφίμων” (large amounts of merchandise and food).44

The overland trade of the empire flourished during the period of the naval expanse of the Arabs (825-965). The estimates about the growth of the trade of Asia Minor differ. Some researchers claim that the overland trade, limited in the transportation of luxury goods before the 11th century, had a lower turnover than the overseas trade in the Mediterranean, which was associated with the transportation of strategic merchandise (timber and metal). Other researchers claim that the turnover of the overland trade with the East was higher than that of the trade in the Mediterranean.45

5.2 Cities - Kommerkia

Trebizond and its neighbouring Armenian cities and Attaleia and its neighbouring Seleukeia played an important part in the trade with the East. These two cities, the commercial gates of Asia Minor to the East, according to Arab geographer Ibn-Hauqal, had customs, such as the border cities of the Early Byzantine period, in order to inspect and clear through merchandise.

Trebizond predominated over the administrative domain of the theme of Chaldia, a commercial zone of international importance. Many annual trade fairs were held, most important of which was the trade fair of St. Eugenios, established at the time of Basil I (867-886). Merchants and travellers of the East (Arabs, Armenians, Byzantines, Russians, Colchs, Jews, Georgians, Circassians) visited the city in order to buy and sell merchandise. “Πλείστοι και όλβιοι” (many and prospering)46 native merchants were also active in the region of Chaldia, extending their activities to Syria.47 The port of Attaleia was a military base and a busy emporion throughout the Middle Byzantien period, attracting Byzantine, Saracen, Armenian, Jewish and Italian merchants.48 It had a frequent connection with Cyprus,49 Syria and Egypt.

At the beginning of the 4th decade of the 10th century (around 932), the profit of the Byzantine emperor from the kommerkion (customs) of Attaleia was generally 21.600 coins but usually reached a height of 30.000 coins and 10 prisoners along with the secondary taxes. The duty imposed by the kommerkion of Trebizond was threefold (a little less than 72.000 coins) that of the kommerkion of Attaleia. Interestingly enough, the number of seals from the theme of Chaldia and Trebizond (31 copies of seals) is threefold that from the triangle Attaleia - Seleukeia - Cyprus (11 copies); this is not a coincidence but reflects the difference in the commercial activity of the two regions and confirms Ibn-Hauqal. Oikonomides, N., claims that this difference was due to the fact that the larger part of the imported from the Arab caliphate merchandise was transported overseas and was cleared through the customs of Abydos, bypassing Attaleia and Seleukeia. It is obvious that the products of Syria could be transported to Constantinople overland after their clearing through the customs.

The kommerkion of Mesopotamia had less commercial activity than those of Trebizond and Attaleia. The Byzantine-Arab treaty of 696-970 provides for caravans transporting luxury goods mainly, which travelled from Constantinople and Antioch to Aleppo and the markets of Syria. The customs of Aleppo imposed a tax on the merchandise, designated by the collaboration of the customs officers of the Byzantine emperor and the two local rulers of northern Syria.50

5.3 Trade routes of Asia Minor

Roads from Caucasus, Central Asia, Constantinople and the eastern provinces of Asia Minor ended in Trebizond. The merchandise was forwarded from there to the flourishing Armenian emporeion Adranuc (around 960),51 which profited huge amounts of money, “κομμέρκιον άπειρον”, from transit trade. Another road led to Theodosiopolis, the city of caravans, which flourished at the beginning of the 10th century, and continued eastwards to the Iranian plateau of Tauris and Central Asia. Theodosiopolis was an important commercial centre which was later replaced by neighbouring Artze. Large amounts of merchandise from Persia, India and the rest of Asia arrived in Artze, resulting in great wealth in the hands of the merchants of various origins (Syrians, Armenians, etc.) who lived in the city. The city was destroyed and looted by the Seljuks in the middle of the 11th century (1049).52 During the First Crusade (1096-1099), the region had recovered financially and the city of Erzurum (Thedosiopolis rebuilt), which replaced Artze, flourished commercially.53 The customs of Mesopotamia were located upon the road connecting the central road axis of the peninsula (Ankyra - Caesarea - Melitene) with Amida (Diyarbakr) and Edessa.54

The most important commercial road during the 10th century was the diagonal road passing through Nicaea, Dorylaeum, Ikonion, the Gates of Cilicia and Tarsus and ending in Antioch and Aleppo. The merchants usually transported their merchandise on camel caravans, especially when they attempted long distance journeys inside the Arab domain. A Byzantine caravan returning from India to Cilicia with an armed guard under patrikios Leo Phokas was captured by the horsemen of Syrian emir Abu΄l Hassan Ali Seif Addauleh ibn Hamdan (916-969) and its cargo was confiscated.55

6. Trade in Asia Minor during the 12th and 13th century

Following the crisis of the end of the 11th century and the reorganization of the Byzantine state by the Komnenian dynasty (1081-1185), the trade with the East flourished again. The economic transactions with the Seljuks of Ikonion and the people of Caucasus and the East thickened despite the difficulties due to wars and piracy. At the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, the much-frequented trade fair of Archangelos Michael was held in Chonai, with visitors not only from the neighbouring cities, but also from the shores of Asia Minor and the sultanate of Iconium.56 Byzantine and Georgian merchants conducted the trade with the lands of Caucasus and many Georgian merchants appeared in Constantinople. The commercial activity was sometimes associated with piracy: Constantine Frangopoulos, who was sent to transport products from Phasis to Constantinople at the time of Alexios III Angelos (1195-1203), was also a pirate. Trebizond was an important centre of trade with the people of the East and Caucasus. Idrisi describes the city as a great commercial centre with wealthy merchants and shops frequented by both Christians and Muslims.

Many of the valuable products of the East were imported from Alexandria. The cities of the southern and western shore of Asia Minor also profited from this trade by being transit centres and centres of production and export of several pharmaceutical plants, such as absinthe (Artemisia absinthium) and gentian. One of these cities was Seleukeia, cited in a letter from the archive of the synagogue of Cairo (a document of the Geniza collection), dating back to the 4th decade of the 12th century.57 During the 13th century, the commercial relations between the sultanate of Iconium and the Empire of Nicaea at the time of John III Doukas Vatatzes (1222-1254) are worth mentioning. The Seljuks bought food from Nicaea in exchange for great amounts of gold and luxury fabrics.

1. Laiou, A. E., “Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries”, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.), The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century (Washington, D.C. 2002), pp. 689-762, esp. 697.

2. Rouge, J. (ed.), Expositio totius mundi et gentium (Sources chretiennes 14, Paris 1966), ch. XL, p. 176: Negotia autem haec (sc. Cappadocia) optima ubique mittere eam aiunt: leporinam uestem et babylonicarum pellium et illorum diuinorum animalium formositae.

3. Rouge, J. (ed.), Expositio totius mundi et gentium (Sources chretiennes 14, Paris 1966), chapter XLI, p. 178: (Galatia) negotiatur uestem plurimam, ibid, chapter XLII, p. 178: Laodiciam, quae uestem solam et nominatam emittat, quae sic vocatur laodicena.

4. See also Pigulewskaja, N., Byzanz auf den Wegen nach Indien. Aus der Geschichte des byzantinischen Handels mit dem Orient vom 4. bis 6. Jahrhundert (Berliner Byzantinistische Arbeiten 36, Berlin, Amsterdam 1969), p. 73.

5. Κωνσταντίνος Πορφυρογέννητος, Περί βασιλείου τάξεως, Reiske, J.J. (ed.), Constantini Porphyrogeniti De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae (Bonn 1829-1830), p. 405: ανοίγονται δε αι τρεις θύραι του κονσιστωρίου, εάν (ο πρέσβης των Περσών) έχηι ίππους εις τα ξένια.

6. Balard, M., “Persien (wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Beziehungen mit Byzanz und dem Westen)”, in Lexikon des Mittelalters 6 (Munich, Zurich 1993), cols. 1898-1900, esp. 1898.

7. Vryonis, S., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1971), p. 23, note 126.

8. See also Vryonis, S., “Travellers as a Source for the Societies of the Middle East: 900-1600”, in Laiou-Thomadakis, A.E. (ed.), Essays in Honor of P. Charanis (New Brunswick, New Jersey 1980), pp. 284-311, esp. 290-294.

9. Προκόπιος, Απόκρυφος Ιστορία, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia III Historia Arcana (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), chapter XX, 11: οι δε τους αγρούς κεκτημένοι των σφετέρων σεσηπότων τε και εικηι κειμένων, ανόνητοι ες αεί γίγνονται.

10. See Hendy, M. F., Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy c. 300-1450 (Cambridge Mass. 1985), p. 554 ff.

11. Hild, F. – Hellenkemper, H. (ed.), Kilikien und Isaurien (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 5, Vienna 1990), pp. 108-112.

12. Rouge, J. (ed.), Expositio totius mundi et gentium (Sources chretiennes 14, Paris 1966), ch. XLV.

13. Rouge, J. (ed.), Expositio totius mundi et gentium (Sources chretiennes 14, Paris 1966), ch. XLVII.

14. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. II, ch. 15, 4-5: [Λαζοί] επ’ εμπορίαι δε τηι κατά θάλασσαν προς Ρωμαίους αεί τους εν πόντωι ωικημένους εργαζόμενοι, αυτοί μεν γαρ ούτε άλας ούτε σίτον ούτε άλλο τι αγαθόν έχουσι, δέρρεις δε και βύρσας και ανδράποδα παρεχόμενοι τα σδίσιν επιτήδεια εκομίζοντο.

15. Ostrogorsky, G., Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους Α΄, Παναγόπουλος, Ι. (trans.) (Athens 1978), p. 140.

16. Ζαχαρίας Ρήτωρ, Ahrens, K. – Kruger, G. (ed. - trans.), Die sogenannte Kirchengeschichte des Zacharias Rhetor (Scriptores sacri et profane, fasc. III, Leipzig 1899), p. 255.

17. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. II, ch. 15 and 25.

18. Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ, Blockley, R. C. (ed.), The History of Menander the Guardsman (ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts 17, Liverpool 1985), excerpt 6.1, p. 84.

19. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. IV, ch. 3, 15.

20. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. IV, ch. 2, 19.

21. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. II, ch. 15, 10-11.

22. Προκόπιος, Υπέρ των πολέμων, Haury, J. – Wirth, G. (ed.), Procopii Cesariensis Opera Omnia, De Bellis Libris I-IV: Bellum Persicum, Bellum Gothicum, Bellum Vandalicum (Leipzig 1905, revised edition Leipzig 1963), lib. II, ch. 29, 16-18.

23. Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ, Blockley, R.C. (ed.), The History of Menander the Guardsman (ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts 17, Liverpool 1985), excerpt 6.1, pp. 70-72.

24. Ιωάννης Εφέσου, Brooks, E. W. (ed.), “John of Ephesus, Lives of the East Saints”, in Patrologia Orientalis 18 (Paris 1924), p. 576 ff.

25. Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ, Blockley, R.C. (ed.), The History of Menander the Guardsman (ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts 17, Liverpool 1985), excerpt 10, p. 110 ff.

26. Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ, Blockley, R.C. (ed.), The History of Menander the Guardsman (ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts 17, Liverpool 1985), excerpt 19.1, p. 170.

27. Μένανδρος Προτήκτωρ, Blockley, R.C. (ed.), The History of Menander the Guardsman (ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts 17, Liverpool 1985), excerpt 19, p. 170 ff.: this road was used by the Byzantine embassies visiting the land of the Turks between 576 and 578 and by Valentine, ruler of Crimea during the same period.

28. Haussig, H. W., Die Geschichte Zentralasiens und der Seidenstrasse in vorislamischer Zeit (Grundzuge 49, Darmstadt 1983), p. 149 ff., 154.

29. Oikonomides, N., “Le marchand byzantin des provinces” in Centro italiano di studi sull alto medioevo (ed.), SCIAM 40: Mercati et mercanti nell’alto medioevo: L’ area euroasiatica e l’area mediterranea (Spoleto 23-29 April 1992) (Spoleto 1993), pp. 633-665, esp. 637; Brandes, W., Die Stadte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Berliner byzantinistische Arbeiten 56, Amsterdam 1989), p. 82 ff.

30. Oikonomides, N., “Silk Trade and Production in Byzantium from the Sixth to the Ninth Century: The seals of Kommerkiarii”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 40 (1986), pp. 33-53, esp. 49 and Laiou, A.E. “Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries”, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.), The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century (Washington, D.C. 2002), pp. 689-762, esp. 698.

31. Brandes, W., Die Stadte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Berliner byzantinistische Arbeiten 56, Amsterdam 1989), p. 158.

32. Νόμος Ροδίων Ναυτικός, Ashburner, W. (ed.) The Rhodian Sea Law (Pars Tertia 17, Oxford 1909) p. 22, 97. See also Lopez, R. S., “The Role of the Trade in the Economic Readjustment of Byzantium in the Seventh Century”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 13 (1959), pp. 69-85, esp. 80 ff.; Oikonomides, N., “Le marchand byzantin des provinces” in Centro italiano di studi sull alto medioevo (ed.), SCIAM 40: Mercati et mercanti nell’alto medioevo: L’area euroasiatica e l’ area mediterranea (Spoleto 23-29 April 1992) (Spoleto 1993), pp. 633-665, esp. 645; Laiou, A.E. “Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries”, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.), The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century (Washington, D.C. 2002), pp. 689-762, esp. 699.

33. See Brandes, W., Die Stadte Kleinasiens im 7. und 8. Jahrhundert (Berliner byzantinistische Arbeiten 56, Amsterdam 1989), p. 153, and Γερολυμάτου, Μ., “Εμπορική δραστηριότητα κατά τους σκοτεινούς αιώνες”, in Οι σκοτεινοί αιώνες του Βυζαντίου (7ος-9ος αι.) (ΙΒΕ/ΕΙΕ, Διεθνή συμπόσια 9, Athens 2001), pp. 347-364, esp. 361-362.

34. Θεοφάνους Χρονογραφία, De Boor, C. (ed.), Theophanes Chronographia I-II (Leipzig 1887), pp. 469-470: και κατελθών εις Έφεσον και εις τον θεολόγον ευξάμενος, το κομμέρκιν του πανηγυρίου, ρ΄ λίτρων χρυσίου ον, εκούφισε προς θεραπείαν του αγίου αποστόλου και ευαγγελιστού Ιωάννου... See also Oikonomides, N., “Le marchand byzantin des provinces” in Centro italiano di studi sull alto medioevo (ed.), SCIAM 40: Mercati et mercanti nell’ alto medioevo: L’ area euroasiatica e l’ area mediterranea (Spoleto 23-29 April 1992) (Spoleto 1993), pp. 633-665, esp. 642-643, and Vryonis, S., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1971), p. 10.

35. Βίος Αγίου Γρηγορίου Δεκαπολίτου, Dvornik, F. (ed. - trans.), La vie de Saint Gregoire le Decapolite et les Slaves Macedoniens au IXe siecle (Paris 1926), pp. 45-57: (BHG 711), ch. 9, p. 53.

36. Ibn Hauqal, Kitab surat al-ard, Kramers, J.H. – Wiet, G. (ed. - trans.), Ibn Hauqal, Configuration de la terre (Beirut - Paris 1964), pp. 153-154, and De Goeje, M.J. (ed. - trans.), Ibn Hurdadbih, Liber viarum et regnorum (Bibliotheca geographorum Arabicorum 6, Lugduni Batavorum 1889, reprint 1967). See also Miquel, A., La geographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu’ au milieu du 11e siecle. 4: Les travaux et les jours Geographie 4 (Paris 1988), p. 149 ff.

37. Vasiliev, A. A., Byzance et les Arabes, 2. La dynastie Macedonienne (867-959). Extraits de sources arabes (Corpus Bruxellense Historiae Byzantinae 2/2, Brussels 1950), p. 49 ff.

38. Oikonomides, N., “Un vaste atelier: artisans et marchands”, in Ducellier, A. – Balard, M. (ed.), Constantinople, 1054-1261. Tete de la chretiente, proie des Latins, capitale grecque (Paris 1996), pp. 104-135, esp. 124 ff.

39. Επαρχικόν βιβλίον, Koder, J. (ed.), Das Eparchenbuch Leons des Weisen (Vienna 1991, ch. 10.2, pp. 110-111: Οφείλουσιν οι μυρεψοί, ηνίκα επεισέρχεται η αρμόζουσα αυτοίς πραγματεία είτε δια Χαλδαίων και Τραπεζουντίων η και εξ άλλων τινών τόπων, αναλαμβάνεσθαι ταύτην εξ αυτών, καθώς αν η ημέρα την ωνήν έχει του είδους.

40. Ibn Hauqal, Kitab surat al-ard, Kramers, J.H. – Wiet, G. (ed. - trans.), Ibn Hauqal, Configuration de la terre (Beirut - Paris 1964), pp. 192-193. See also, Hild, F. – Hellenkemper, H. (ed.), Kilikien und Isaurien (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 5, Vienna 1990), p. 111.

41. Hild, F. – Hellenkemper, H. (ed.), Kilikien und Isaurien (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 5, Vienna 1990), p. 111.

42. Lombard, M., L’Islam dans sa premiere grandeur (VIIIEe-XIe siecle) (Paris 1973), p. 226, 227 (a map of the trade routes connecting Asia Minor and the Caliphate), and Πασχάλης, Α. Ν., “Το εμπόριο των αρωμάτων και των αρωματικών φυτών στο Βυζάντιο” in Φαρμακευτικά και αρωματικά φυτά. Παραδοσιακές χρήσεις και δυνατότητες αξιοποίησής τους. Ζ΄ τριήμερο εργασίας, Κύπρος, παραλίμνι, 21-25 Μαρτίου 1997 (Athens 2001), pp. 138-152, esp. 143.

43. Vasiliev, A. A., Byzance et les Arabes, 2. La dynastie Macedonienne (867-959). Extraits de sources arabes (Corpus Bruxellense Historiae Byzantinae 2/2, Brussels 1950), p. 400, and Oikonomides, N., “Le marchand byzantin des provinces” in Centro italiano di studi sull alto medioevo (ed.), SCIAM 40: Mercati et mercanti nell’alto medioevo: L’area euroasiatica e l’area mediterranea (Spoleto 23-29 April 1992) (Spoleto 1993), pp. 633-665, esp. 651: It is obvious that it was a complex commercial enterprise which ensured the trading of luxury products to the provinces.

44. Vasiliev, A. A., Byzance et les Arabes, 2. La dynastie Macedonienne (867-959). Extraits de sources arabes (Corpus Bruxellense Historiae Byzantinae 2/2, Brussels 1950), p. 152.

45. Οικονομίδης, Ν., “Πόλεις-Commercia στην Μικρά Ασία του 10ου αιώνα” in Λαμπάκης, Σ. (ed.), Η βυζαντινή Μικρά Ασία (6ος-12ος αι.) (ΙΒΕ/ΕΙΕ Διεθνή Συμπόσια 6 [= Κέντρο για τη Μελέτη του Ελληνισμού], Athens 1998), pp. 67-72, esp. 72.

46. Άγιος Ευγένιος Τραπεζούντος, Rosenquist, J. O. (ed.), The Hagiographical Dossier of St. Eugenios of Trevizond in Codex Athous Dionysiou 154. A Critical Edition with Introduction, Translation, Commentary and Indexes (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 3, Uppsala 1996), p. 212.

47. Oikonomides, N., “Le marchand byzantin des provinces” in Centro italiano di studi sull alto medioevo (ed.), SCIAM 40: Mercati et mercanti nell’ alto medioevo: L’ area euroasiatica e l’ area mediterranea (Spoleto 23-29 April 1992) (Spoleto 1993), pp. 633-665, esp. 653.

48. “Βίος και πολιτεία και μερική θαυμάτων διήγησις του οσίου και θεοφόρου πατρός ημών Λαζάρου του εν των Γαλησίω όρει ασκήσαντος, συγγραφείς παρά τω αγιωτάτου πατριάρχου κυρού Γρηγορίου”, Acta Sanctorum Novembris III (Brussels 1910), pp. 588-606, esp. ch. 230, p. 590: Εξ εκείνου δε την Αττάλειαν καταλαβών – πόλις αύτη Κιλίκων τα τε άλλα περιφανής και ότι αγχίαλος και πλήθος αεί των πανταχόθεν εις αύτην καταιρόντων – επιβουλεύεται χρυσού έκδοτος εις δουλείαν γενέσθαι Σαρακηνοίς, οι πολλοί περί την Αττάλειαν το τηνικάδε έτυχον όντες, εμπορίας χάριν κατάραντες.

49. “Βίος του οσίου Κωνσταντίνου του εξ Ιουδαίων” in Delehaye, H. (ed.), Acta Sanctorum Novembris IV (1925), pp. 657-669, esp. 635: ης αφορμάν ειώθασιν οι πλείστοι των εις Κύπτον πορευομένων.

50. Canard, M., Histoire de la dynastie des H’amdanides de Jazira et de Syrie (Publications de la Faculte des letters d’Alger, 2. ser., t. 21, Paris 1953), pp. 835-836.

51. Κωνσταντίνος Πορφυρογέννητος, Προς τον ίδιον υιόν Ρωμανόν, Moravcsik, G., - Jenkins, R. J. H. (ed. - trans.), Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio (Washington, D.C. 1967), pp. 216-217.

52. Ατταλειάτου Μιχαήλ, Ιστορία, Bekker, I. (ed.), Michaelis Attaliotae Historia (Bonn 1853), p. 148: Διελθών ουν ημέραν εξ ημέρας την προκειμένην οδόν, κατέλαβε την Θεοδοσίου πόλιν, επί μεν τωι προ του χρόνωι παραμεληθείσαν και αοίκητον γενομένην δια το εν τηι πολιτείαι του Άρτζη πλησίον ούσηι και εν καλώι της θέσεως ορωμένηι μεταθέσθαι τους ανθρώπους την οίκησιν, και μεγάλην εγκαταστήσαι χωρόπολιν και παντοίων ωνίων, όσα Περσική τε και Ινδική και η λοιπή Ασία φέρει, πλήθος οθκ ευαρίθμητον φέρουσαν, προ ολίγων δε χρόνων ανοικοδομηθείσαν και κατοχυρωθείσαν, την Θεοδοσίου πόλιν λέγω τάφρωι και τείχεσι δια την των Τούρκων εκ του ανελπίστου γειτνίασιν, δι’ ων εξ επιδρομής η πολιτεία του Άρτζη πάμπληθη την σφαγήν προΰπέμεινε και την άλωσιν... See also Ιωάννου του Σκυλίτζη, Σύνοψις ιστοριών, Thurn, I. (ed.), Ioannis Scylitzae, Synopsis Historiarum, (CFHB 5, Berlin - New York 1973), p. 45, and Ducellier, A., Byzance et le monde orthodoxe (Paris 1992), p. 208; Vryonis, S., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century (Berkeley - Los Angeles - London 1971), p. 15 ff.; Laiou, A.E., “Exchange and Trade, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries”, in Laiou, A.E. (ed.), The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century (Washington, D.C. 2002), pp. 689-762 ,esp 740.

53. Ducellier, A., Byzance et le monde orthodoxe (Paris 1992), p. 208.

54. Ducellier, A., Byzance et le monde orthodoxe (Paris 1992), p. 210 (a map of the trade routes of Asia Minor in the middle of the 11th century).

55. Πασχάλης, Α.Ν., “Το εμπόριο των αρωμάτων και των αρωματικών φυτών στο Βυζάντιο” in Φαρμακευτικά και αρωματικά φυτά. Παραδοσιακές χρήσεις και δυνατότητες ακξιοποίησής τους. Ζ΄ τριήμερο εργασίας, Κύπρος, παραλίμνι, 21-25 Μαρτίου 1997 (Athens 2001), pp. 138-152, esp. 143.

56. Belke, K. – Mersich, N., Phrygien und Pisidien (Tabula Imperii Byzantini 7, Vienna 1990), p. 65.

57. Goitein, S.D., “A letter from Seleukeia (Cilicia), dated 21 July 1137”, Speculum 39 (1964), pp. 298-305, esp. 299.

     
 
 
 
 
 

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