A Note on Placenames

In rendering placenames appropriately across time and across a cultural milieu in which several languages were used the historian is confronted by a number of difficulties I have chosen to adopt in this atlas the simple expedient of using common English versions of Ihe best-known places - thus Constantinop le Thessalon ica Rhodes rath er than Konstantinoupol is Theassalonikel Thessaloniki Rhodos - for the whole period and otherwise to transliterate the names according to the common usage of the dominant culture of the area in question Chronologically thi s means tbal up to the seventh cen tury most names within the Roman world are given in their Latin fonn thereafter in their Greek form There will undoubtedly be some inconsistencies but 1 hope this will at least allow a clear identification of the places iJl question

1 General Maps

Physical Geography aod Climate

The late Roman worl d from the sixth century was dominated initiall~ by four land-masses (Asia Minor or Anatolia very roughly modern Turkey the levam or Middle Eastern regions down to and including Egypt North Afri ca from Egypt westwards to the Atlantic and the Balkans)1l1e Meditemmean and Black Seas U11ited these very different regions and after the loss of much of Italy and all of North Afr ica during the seventh and eighth centuries acted as a connecting corridor between east and west The cl imate of these very diffe rent regions detemlined the patterns of agricultural and pastoral exploitation within the empires borders and the nature of the state s surplus-extracting activit ies

Asia Minor can be divided into three zones centml plateau coastal plains and the mountain ranges which separate them The plateau rises from about 1000 metres in the west to over 1800 metres fee t in the east and is typified by extremes ofhot and cold temperatures in summer and wimer (altitude and the effect of the northern Pont ic range of mountains promotes in effect a continental steppe-type climatic system) Four climatic sectors are usually identified the Pontic (Black Sea coastaJ)

region has warm summers mild winters and a regular rainfall across the year - temperanlres range from 23deg C In midsummer to some 14 C in the winter the south and west coastal regions have a Mediterranean climate with mild wel winters and hot dry summers - temperatures range from 12deg C in winler to 20deg C in summer the semi-arid plateau and rnterior have cold wet wmiddotrnters and hol dry summers with temperatures ranging from freezing and below in mid-winter to 23deg C in the summer Final ly lhe nonh-eastern plateaux have warm slImmers but severe winters with winter temperatures reaclling - 12deg C to

1go C in summer This pattern reflects the physical geography for the relief of the whole peninsula is dominated by ranges in the north and south of over 3000 metres that encircle the central plateau To tbe nonh the Pontic Alps follow the line of the southern shore of the Black Sea til the south the Taln-lIS and Anti-Taurus ranges exlend along the Mediterranean coast and across northern Syria curving north-eastwards into the Caucasus region All the mountain zones but particularly the southern and eastern regions are characterised by smaller plateaux dissected by crater lakes lava flows and depressions producing a highly fragmented landscape The central plateau itself is divided in to several large baSinS and salt lakes with extensive eroded areas

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GENERAL MAPS 1

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around th southern fringe as in Cappadocia for example where the eroded limestone formations have pemlitted rhe creation of cave dwell ings und subterranean villages Landshyuse is detennioed very clearly b these differences in relief Agricultural production is limIted to the coastal regions- often quite extensive in the Cillciun pJain or western lowlands for example and to the fertile riT valleys -hich cut through the central plateau or coastal ranges The uplands and plateau have tradilionaUy been exploited by pastoral ac tivi ty ranging from sheer and goalS to horses and in some areas catlle In ancient and pre-blamic medieval times extensive pig rearing was also practised in the transitional zones between plateau and fertile agrarian districts

In contrast the limiled but fertile agricult ural lands of Palestine and western Syria are very much wealthier Greater Syria including Palestine and the Lebanon incorporates a number of very different landscapes the terrain alternating from rugged high lands (for example the mountains of the Lebanon) tbrough the fertile plains ofnorthern Syria or central Palestine the hilly uplands around Jerusalem to the desert steppe of central Syria south of Palestine lay the deserts of the Sinai peninsula leading then into the fertile N ile alley and delta regions shy an area of fundamentally different character heavily dependent on the annual f100drng of the great river

2 THE PALGRAH ATLAS OF BYUlTI1E HISTORY

~(J

Gfe~ HAMADAT PLATEAU

and the irrigation agriCUlture which it supported Westwards from EbYPt stretched the provinces of North Africa desert through the eastern sector of CyrenaIca and Tripolitania in modem Libya ilh wry limited fertile coastal stretches and inland plateaux graduattng into the coastal plains of Tunisia and modem Algeri a This was in tum clearly delineated by the plateaux and sandy de~ltrt regions in Ihe south-east including the aJ-Jifarall plain (and beyond them th e great desert) b) the Aurcs range in tht centre and the Saharan Atlas Mean temperatures along the northern coastline range from a low of 16Q C in winter to a swnmer high of 38-40deg C in me eastern region (slight l) lower wmter temperatures of 8-lJo C in the western sector)

The Balkan peninsula ilgt domina ted b mou ntains and although not particularly higb these cover some tWo thi rd of its area The main fonnations are the Dinaric Alps which run through the western Balkan region in a southmiddot~a5te rly

direct ion and 10 the associated Pindos range dominate wC$tern and central Greece Extensions and spurs of these mountains dominate southern Greece and the Peloponnese 111e Balkan chain itself(Turkic halqan densely wooded mountain Greek Haimos) lies nortb of Greece extending eastwards from the Morava river for about 550 kilometres as far as the Black Sea coast wth the Rhodope range forming an arc extending

N 3000-4000

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LIBYAN

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southwards from this range lhrough Macedonia towards the plain ofThrace River and coastal plains are relatively limi ted in extent There are thus very distinct climatic variation~ between the coastal Meditemme-an-type conditions and the continentalshytype conditions of the inland and highland regions Mean temperatures in the Peloponnese and in the coastal regions of southern and north-western Greece range from 5- 100 C in winter to 25- 30 in the summer contrasting WIth northern and central upland temperarures of from 10 to _5deg C in winrer and 10-15deg ClOthe summer Rainfall patterns are similarly 8cccntuat~d although witJl a stronger differentiation between thOse oreas west and soum of the J) inaric and Rhodope ranges amI those In the east - means of about 100 centimetres per annum in the former and of as lill ie as half that much ill some parts of the latter have been recorded in modem times This has in tum generated a very accentuated seulement-pattern consi~ling in a senCl) of fragmented geopolitical enti ties Mparalld by ridges of highlands fanning out along rivershya1fl~s towards the coastal areas

The highland regions are dominated by Corest and woodland rl1clower foothtlls by woodland scrub and rough pasturage Only the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia offered the possihllity of extensive arable exploitalion the river plains and tIlt coastal strips assOCIated with them (such as the region

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aboUl the gulfs of Argos and Corinth much more limited in extent) presen t a similar but 11l 0r~ restricted potent ial Here were to be foun d in ancient and medievaJ times orchards as well as vine and olive cultivation The relationship between this landscape of mountains valleys and coastal plains and the sea is fundamental to the poli ticaL mil itary and cultural history of the region in parti cular in the southern zone Surrounded by the sea for examplL except along its northern boundary the extended coastl ine with irs gulfs and deep inlets slTVes as a means of communicat ion ~ith surrounding areas and for the disseminati on ofcommon cultural elements even tothe interior districts ofthe Balkans But equally easy sea-borne access from me west the south or from the north-east via the Black Sea made the southern Balkan peninsula - in partkuJ ar Greece and the Peloponnese - vulnerable to invasion and dislocation

Climate has remained with in certain margins relatively constant across the late ancient and medieval periods yet there are a number of fluctuations lhat need to be borne in mind and which in conj unction with natural events such as earthquakes man-made phenomena sueh as warfare and catastrophes such as pandemic disease could h3e dramatic short- to mediumshyterm effects on me human populations ofthe region and thus patterns ofseltlement land-use the extraction distribution and consumption of resources and polincal systems The climate

GE~ERAL MAPS 3

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Ilap 13 The Balkans phYSIcal goTlIphy

throughout much of the late Hellenistic and Roman im perial period was relatively wamler and milder than in the period which preceded it and constiruted a cli matic optimum which avoured the expansion of agriculture By about 500 CE this

sItuation was changing with colder conditions persisting up to the mid-ninth century The human environment of tbe laler fifth 10 sevenlh centuries thus became both more cludlenging and tbe economy of existence more fragile Combined wim the great plague ofthe middle oflhe sixth century this may have affected Ihe human population in a number ofways although these remain unclear and the subject of continuing debate Some marginal lands were abandoned soil erosion increased v here agriculture receded the colder wetter climate generated increasing water volume in rivers and watercourses contributing to alluviation and lowland flooding in many more exposed areas It remains difficult to disentangle the effects ofclimatic and human factors on the changing landscape During the ninth century this trend was reversed - and is paralleled by an extension ofagriculrure and ofhuman exploitation of woodland and scrubland strong demographic gro1h and an increasing densilY of settlement and rate of exploitation of agrarian resources But from the fourteenth century once more this tendency was halted and

4 THE PALGRAVE ATlAS Of BYZAlT11NE HISTORY

widl lower temperatures increased gllcistion in high alpine ones (in particular the European Alps) a growth in the rate

of afforestarion a reduction in agriculrural exploi tation and a demographic decline the fragile conditions of existence of the human populations of the region were once more thrown into disequiljbrium wi th phenomena such as the fourteenthshycentury Black Death one of the most obvious accompanying developments All these phenomena thus form the backgrounu to the li ttle ice age of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries It is against this background that we must understand and interpret the social economic and political history of the late Roman an d Byzantine worlds

Laud-use lind Resources

Land-use and the exploitation of natural resources are closel) determined by the geophysical and climatic fra mework described above Four basic types of productive exploitation occur shy arable fanmng pasloral farming the exploitation of woodland and scmbland and the extraction and worJing of mmeral rescrurces The extent of agricultural activity of the

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exploitation of natural resources such as woodlands and of particular crops such as cereals or grapes is reflected also in the climatic fluctuations and shifts vhich took place across the period in question

The modem Balkan regions have changed very dramaticall since the Second World War lIre result of both mechanisation and intensification of production on the one hand and of political rCrOm] and change on ihe other In Bulgaria and Romania and some of the western Balkan countries for exampl ~ collectivisation encouraged a considerable improvement in output and efficiency althougb tbe longershyterm social and economic results were less fortunate In spite of these changes in the organisation of production however the patterns of land-use themselves remained very stable a reflection oHhe constraints imposed by terrain geography and climate - approximately 30 ohhe land devoted to agricultural production with pasture and meado amounting to one fifth of the tota l In the estern coastal regions the chief crops are grains (wheat and com) industrial crops such as beet corton and tohacco and usually on a market-garden basis fruits and vegetables Vineyards are also a developing feature in the west although the) ha~e been a traditional crop in the south Sinuiar ratios prevail in the cemral and eastern regions except where the broader plains and alluvial regions perm it a more extensive cu ltivation of cercals n e medieval picture is not dissimilar except for the absence of cottOIl the more limited surface area devoted to agriculture (for example me modem draining of the Danube delta marshlands has eonsidlTdbly expanded the land available for cereal and other crops) and a much more fragmented pattern ofproduction The rich alluvial plains along the southern Danube and the plains ofThrace Macedomaand Thessaly offered the main potential Again sheltered river valleys and depressions witllin the mountain regions permit settlement and agranan production and archaeological evidence ror settlement density suggests occasionally fairl) intensive exploitation of such resource In the southern regions olive and vine production on fam ily or joint holdings was extensive and from the tenth century at least the increased cultivatIOn of the mulberry aJ lowed an expanded prodttction of silk in the central and southern regions of Greece

Asia Minor has a relatively sma ll total surface of plain in [act only 9 of the total area is level or gently sloping

land Modem Turkey has benefited enorn1Otlsly from modem mechanised techniques and the use of fertilisers and this has helped expand cereal production and cash crops on the central plateau beyond the constraints imposed by climate and geograpby Considerable area~ in the south west and north-west are dominated by a Mediterranean vegetation of deciduous coni ferous or mixed forest at higher altitudes (the tree-line is between 1800 and 2100 metregt above sea level) and b) scrub and brush in me lov lands Whereas the central plateau is a region ofsteppe with forest ofoak and coniferous trees on the higher pans the damper and wanner northern zone along the Black Sea coastline is densely wooded and bas always been

source of timber The main products in this region today are tea (in the eastern districts) hazelmlts and tobacco with cornshymaize - dominatmg as lhe mam cereal crop The degree ofgraiD production increases markedly towards the west vith a greater

6 THE PALGRAVEATLAS OF BYZANTliE HISTORY

proportion of wheat to maize In me Marmara region which is also Ihe most heavily urbanised a very mixed agriculture has developed wheat rice tobacco sunflower maize olives and villes and silk neAegean zone stretching down as far as the island of Rhodes to the south produces a large number of cash crops - cotlon tobacco vines olives figs in Ute coastal regions with cereal and livestock(and a controlled opium crop) predominating in the hi ll country inland The plateau with its steppe climate and limited rainfal l IS dominated today by pastoral production (a third of the sheep and mree quarters of the Angora goat population are raised ill this region) and cereals _ some 40 of the countrys wheat is based here occupying 1)0 of the arable To the south the 1cditerranean region is dom inated by the Taurus stretching from Rhodes to the border with Syria and is further divisible into three sectors - the fertile and intensively cultivated coastal plains (citrus fruits sesame vegetables cotton) the centrallunestonc plateaux in lhe centre (pastoral) and the western semi-steppe district of the lakes where cereals dominate agricultural production The eastern highlands dominated in the north by mountail1 pastureilU1d (beef and dairy catlle) and coniferous forest and in the south by ooded steppe (sheep and goats) is sparsely populated with a limited agriculture dominated by barlcy and summer wheat To the south again the barren plateau at the foot ofLhe southern Taurus range is drained by tbe Euphl1ltes and Tigris rivers where agric ulture - mainly wheat vegetables rice and vines - is limited to sheltered or irrigated vaUeys and depressions The population is largel) semi-nomadic or nomadic

Apart from the introduction of different crops from Ule Ottoman period onwards (totton and flax in the wes and north ror example) the basjc pattern of agricultural production from late Roman time~ through the Byzantine period was much the same with the key difTerence that lack of modem technology meanl that levels ofproduction were very much lower and the possibilities for cereal production on the central plateau were also very much more limited But it is clear that the production of cereals - wheat and barley - on Ute one hand and vines oli ve fruit (especially in the south-west) and vegetables played an imponam part in the economy of the river valleys and coaslal plains in the north west and south-west while inland the cereal and frui tvegetable producing areas were lImited to sheltered zones and depressions on tbe plateau (such as the district around KonyalIkonion) or along river valleys In the uplands and on the central plateau pastoral economies had dominated ~ince anCIent times - horse breeding in Cappadocia for example cattle and pigs in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia sheo and horses elsewhere and long before the arrival ofthl Turkmcn clans with their central Asian pastOral tradition (although th extent and degree of pastoralism before the Turks remains unclear) Medieval sources - Greek Latin and othergt - all stress the arid or scrubland nature ofmuch ofthellateau and the waterless character ofconsiderable stretches the inhospimbllity of the mountain regions and the productivity and fe rti lity of the estern and southern plains and coastal districts

Egypt was the bread-basket of the late Roman and earl) BY7antine empire although the coastal regions ofTuniSla and ea~tem Algeria were the source of very considerable cereal production also along with vegetables fruil olives and grapes

After these regions were lost to Islam dunng the course of the seventh century the eastern empire turned to Asia Minor in particular and to the southern plain ofThrace for its staples especially whea t

The exploitation ofwoodland and scrubland has only recently attracted the attention of historians and archaeologists and it is clear that in the middle Byzantine period certainly and probably from late Roman times and before lhere was a well-structltred pattern of extracting resources in timber and other products from the western Anatolian southern Balkan and Pontic regions under imperial control Mineral resources were also extracted either through state-controlled operatJons (sometimes qUlle extensive) especially in the late Roman period or through smaller more fragmented private enterprise and state contracting in the Byzantine period Iron was II key resOlJrce and deposits in Palestine Ute Pontic region the TalIruslAnti-Taurus and the Caucasus the eastern Danube the Crimea Macedonia and the north-western Balkans were exploited in Ule late Roman period Copper was extrclcted from Cyprult the Caucasus and the Pontic mountains gold was obta ined eithcr directly or by trade from tbe Caucasus (Armenia) by trade from west Afiica and di rectlgt from deposits in the Rhodope mountains and Thrace in the souutern Balkan region Silver likewise came from Annenian sources and from Cyprus but there is some evidence that the silver deposits in Attica continued to be exploited while in the later period Serbian and Ca uca~ian silver was also obtained It is possibly indicative of the proportions of precious to nonshypreoious ores available to the empire that there are many more place-names with the element iron or copper in them than there are with that for gold or middotsi lvermiddot

Population 8od Settlement

estimating pre-modem population numbers and densi ti es is notoriously difficult and fraught with dangers methodological and fuctual so while the distribution ofseulement and seulement densities represented in -laps 15-18 give a reasonably accurate picture of the proportions between ditferent areas of the empire the numbers suggested below for mean population levels must be ~ken with a considerable degree of caution howllver credible they may appear to be On tlle whole I have erred on the cautious but even here exactitude is impossible

The climatic and geographIcal features which determined land-use liktmiddotwise determined where popUlat ions were concentrated and how many people the land could support The degrltf of continuity fro lll medieval to modern times is in Ihis respect considerable But tbere were within our penod very considerable fluctuations both in respect of U1e rewllOnship between tbe populations of urban and rural rCions nil tht one hand and in tenns oftheir density BroadJy spaking there appears to have been a long downward curve in pOPUlation during the late Roman period reaching a nadir in the latlr seventh and eighUt centuries followed by a slow recuvery into the later ninth and tenth centuries wi th a fairly dramatic rise in the twelfth century It has been estimated that lhe Plpulalicm of Roman Europe (including Britain and the Hallum Ir~linccs) was in the orner of approximately 67-70

million at the end of the second century CE falling to around 27- 30 million by the early eighth century rising again by 1300 to some 73 million with a particularly noticeable rise about 1200 CEoAll the evidence suggests a similar curve in the Dear eastern and in the later centuries -Islamic world and these accord with the minor climatic changes described above TIle catastrophic slump of the mid-fourteenth century wbich saw the population of Europe drop to somewhere in tbe region of45 million was made good within a century While these figures arc necessarily crude approximations in view of the nature of Ule available sources and the probl em~ of their interpretation and while one can point to a number of exceptions qui te apart from a differential rate of change from cast 10 west and including important regional and local variations they seem now generalJy agreed at least in their broad outl ines The most recent csomatClgt for the late Roman and Byzantine areas propose a population for the empires eastern provinces ofsome 19--20 million just before Lhe middle of the siUJ cenlury (before the plague of the 54Os) wuh a fu rther 7 million in the west of 17 mill ion in the early seventh century with a reduction to about

mill ion by the middle of the eighul century and a gradual rise to about 10 mil lion in the mid-ninth century 12 mi llion by the time of Basi l II falling again to about 10 mIllion (after the loss of central Anatolia to the Turks) in the mid-twelfth century 9 million in the early thirteenth century 5 mil lion by about 1280 and a consistent downward trend Lhereafter as the empires territorial extent was reduced Slighu higher ligures for the tenth to twelfth cent ur i e~ have also been proposed with a population ofsome I ampmillion in the 1010s for eampleAIl can be challenged on various grounds but they provide some very crude totals in respect of the amount of agrarian produce consumed and avai lable ror for example the support ofarmies or similar transient population bTO UPS

Given Ute geographical constraints described al ready it is apparent that the pattern of settlement and in particular the density ofsettlement will reflect thIS environment very closely and this is indeed the case both in modern times as ell as in tbe pre-modem and pre-i ndustrial world A comparison of the areas of settlement density as reflected in the prtSence of cities (as defined in the Roman legal context) in the late Roman and early Byzantine world wim one sho ing modem d~mographic patterns demonstrates a remarkable continuity in both the Balkans and Anatolia Such a map can tell us li ttle about absolute numbers of course nor about the fluctuations

across time in density and extent ofsettlement but it does point to the relationship between human populations and the ability of the land to support them A glance at the-demographic situation in Turkey before the Second World War (representing the midshy1930s) shows this relationship quite clearly (Map J 8) A map showing the density of Roman cities and Byzantine Episcopal sees highlights the fact iliat it is more or less the same areas whicb could maintain substantial populations in ancient and medieval times which saw the densest concentration ofurban centres and which may rhus be taken to have remained the most productive and heavily-settled regions of the Byzanline period aner tile transfornlation of the late ancient city network aller the seventh century A similar pattern emerge5 from a comparison of Roman and medieval population centres with

GENERALMAPS 7

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o 200mles

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M(lpl2 1011 Africjl phy~ical g~ograpb)

around th southern fringe as in Cappadocia for example where the eroded limestone formations have pemlitted rhe creation of cave dwell ings und subterranean villages Landshyuse is detennioed very clearly b these differences in relief Agricultural production is limIted to the coastal regions- often quite extensive in the Cillciun pJain or western lowlands for example and to the fertile riT valleys -hich cut through the central plateau or coastal ranges The uplands and plateau have tradilionaUy been exploited by pastoral ac tivi ty ranging from sheer and goalS to horses and in some areas catlle In ancient and pre-blamic medieval times extensive pig rearing was also practised in the transitional zones between plateau and fertile agrarian districts

In contrast the limiled but fertile agricult ural lands of Palestine and western Syria are very much wealthier Greater Syria including Palestine and the Lebanon incorporates a number of very different landscapes the terrain alternating from rugged high lands (for example the mountains of the Lebanon) tbrough the fertile plains ofnorthern Syria or central Palestine the hilly uplands around Jerusalem to the desert steppe of central Syria south of Palestine lay the deserts of the Sinai peninsula leading then into the fertile N ile alley and delta regions shy an area of fundamentally different character heavily dependent on the annual f100drng of the great river

2 THE PALGRAH ATLAS OF BYUlTI1E HISTORY

~(J

Gfe~ HAMADAT PLATEAU

and the irrigation agriCUlture which it supported Westwards from EbYPt stretched the provinces of North Africa desert through the eastern sector of CyrenaIca and Tripolitania in modem Libya ilh wry limited fertile coastal stretches and inland plateaux graduattng into the coastal plains of Tunisia and modem Algeri a This was in tum clearly delineated by the plateaux and sandy de~ltrt regions in Ihe south-east including the aJ-Jifarall plain (and beyond them th e great desert) b) the Aurcs range in tht centre and the Saharan Atlas Mean temperatures along the northern coastline range from a low of 16Q C in winter to a swnmer high of 38-40deg C in me eastern region (slight l) lower wmter temperatures of 8-lJo C in the western sector)

The Balkan peninsula ilgt domina ted b mou ntains and although not particularly higb these cover some tWo thi rd of its area The main fonnations are the Dinaric Alps which run through the western Balkan region in a southmiddot~a5te rly

direct ion and 10 the associated Pindos range dominate wC$tern and central Greece Extensions and spurs of these mountains dominate southern Greece and the Peloponnese 111e Balkan chain itself(Turkic halqan densely wooded mountain Greek Haimos) lies nortb of Greece extending eastwards from the Morava river for about 550 kilometres as far as the Black Sea coast wth the Rhodope range forming an arc extending

N 3000-4000

2000-3000

1000-2000

500-1000

200-500

0-200

0- -50 (Depression)

( ~ ~

~-- -J~ h-Jabal ~--~ ~ fi~ --~- ---shy I ) Libyan _ ~ shy

Qalara P bull Plaleau I (

- -- -- Depreson il

LIBYAN

DESERT

southwards from this range lhrough Macedonia towards the plain ofThrace River and coastal plains are relatively limi ted in extent There are thus very distinct climatic variation~ between the coastal Meditemme-an-type conditions and the continentalshytype conditions of the inland and highland regions Mean temperatures in the Peloponnese and in the coastal regions of southern and north-western Greece range from 5- 100 C in winter to 25- 30 in the summer contrasting WIth northern and central upland temperarures of from 10 to _5deg C in winrer and 10-15deg ClOthe summer Rainfall patterns are similarly 8cccntuat~d although witJl a stronger differentiation between thOse oreas west and soum of the J) inaric and Rhodope ranges amI those In the east - means of about 100 centimetres per annum in the former and of as lill ie as half that much ill some parts of the latter have been recorded in modem times This has in tum generated a very accentuated seulement-pattern consi~ling in a senCl) of fragmented geopolitical enti ties Mparalld by ridges of highlands fanning out along rivershya1fl~s towards the coastal areas

The highland regions are dominated by Corest and woodland rl1clower foothtlls by woodland scrub and rough pasturage Only the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia offered the possihllity of extensive arable exploitalion the river plains and tIlt coastal strips assOCIated with them (such as the region

-c ~~

~

aboUl the gulfs of Argos and Corinth much more limited in extent) presen t a similar but 11l 0r~ restricted potent ial Here were to be foun d in ancient and medievaJ times orchards as well as vine and olive cultivation The relationship between this landscape of mountains valleys and coastal plains and the sea is fundamental to the poli ticaL mil itary and cultural history of the region in parti cular in the southern zone Surrounded by the sea for examplL except along its northern boundary the extended coastl ine with irs gulfs and deep inlets slTVes as a means of communicat ion ~ith surrounding areas and for the disseminati on ofcommon cultural elements even tothe interior districts ofthe Balkans But equally easy sea-borne access from me west the south or from the north-east via the Black Sea made the southern Balkan peninsula - in partkuJ ar Greece and the Peloponnese - vulnerable to invasion and dislocation

Climate has remained with in certain margins relatively constant across the late ancient and medieval periods yet there are a number of fluctuations lhat need to be borne in mind and which in conj unction with natural events such as earthquakes man-made phenomena sueh as warfare and catastrophes such as pandemic disease could h3e dramatic short- to mediumshyterm effects on me human populations ofthe region and thus patterns ofseltlement land-use the extraction distribution and consumption of resources and polincal systems The climate

GE~ERAL MAPS 3

1------- ~ gt----~ t ~ ~ ~-~Sti -~~J ~ [- ~

--0_-lt _~ I

~

o - ~ lt~ nUb~---r~ - 1 D~ r

r-~ 1- --shy

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- ---- f sect ~cf

t ~shy--- ~gt-shy

14ltgt-

-siiymon r( ~ fi- ~lf--5gt$shy~ r ~

L--r ~

~ ~~~~tion (metres)

1000-2000500-1000

0-500

200 kilometres ()o o 100 miles

Ilap 13 The Balkans phYSIcal goTlIphy

throughout much of the late Hellenistic and Roman im perial period was relatively wamler and milder than in the period which preceded it and constiruted a cli matic optimum which avoured the expansion of agriculture By about 500 CE this

sItuation was changing with colder conditions persisting up to the mid-ninth century The human environment of tbe laler fifth 10 sevenlh centuries thus became both more cludlenging and tbe economy of existence more fragile Combined wim the great plague ofthe middle oflhe sixth century this may have affected Ihe human population in a number ofways although these remain unclear and the subject of continuing debate Some marginal lands were abandoned soil erosion increased v here agriculture receded the colder wetter climate generated increasing water volume in rivers and watercourses contributing to alluviation and lowland flooding in many more exposed areas It remains difficult to disentangle the effects ofclimatic and human factors on the changing landscape During the ninth century this trend was reversed - and is paralleled by an extension ofagriculrure and ofhuman exploitation of woodland and scrubland strong demographic gro1h and an increasing densilY of settlement and rate of exploitation of agrarian resources But from the fourteenth century once more this tendency was halted and

4 THE PALGRAVE ATlAS Of BYZAlT11NE HISTORY

widl lower temperatures increased gllcistion in high alpine ones (in particular the European Alps) a growth in the rate

of afforestarion a reduction in agriculrural exploi tation and a demographic decline the fragile conditions of existence of the human populations of the region were once more thrown into disequiljbrium wi th phenomena such as the fourteenthshycentury Black Death one of the most obvious accompanying developments All these phenomena thus form the backgrounu to the li ttle ice age of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries It is against this background that we must understand and interpret the social economic and political history of the late Roman an d Byzantine worlds

Laud-use lind Resources

Land-use and the exploitation of natural resources are closel) determined by the geophysical and climatic fra mework described above Four basic types of productive exploitation occur shy arable fanmng pasloral farming the exploitation of woodland and scmbland and the extraction and worJing of mmeral rescrurces The extent of agricultural activity of the

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exploitation of natural resources such as woodlands and of particular crops such as cereals or grapes is reflected also in the climatic fluctuations and shifts vhich took place across the period in question

The modem Balkan regions have changed very dramaticall since the Second World War lIre result of both mechanisation and intensification of production on the one hand and of political rCrOm] and change on ihe other In Bulgaria and Romania and some of the western Balkan countries for exampl ~ collectivisation encouraged a considerable improvement in output and efficiency althougb tbe longershyterm social and economic results were less fortunate In spite of these changes in the organisation of production however the patterns of land-use themselves remained very stable a reflection oHhe constraints imposed by terrain geography and climate - approximately 30 ohhe land devoted to agricultural production with pasture and meado amounting to one fifth of the tota l In the estern coastal regions the chief crops are grains (wheat and com) industrial crops such as beet corton and tohacco and usually on a market-garden basis fruits and vegetables Vineyards are also a developing feature in the west although the) ha~e been a traditional crop in the south Sinuiar ratios prevail in the cemral and eastern regions except where the broader plains and alluvial regions perm it a more extensive cu ltivation of cercals n e medieval picture is not dissimilar except for the absence of cottOIl the more limited surface area devoted to agriculture (for example me modem draining of the Danube delta marshlands has eonsidlTdbly expanded the land available for cereal and other crops) and a much more fragmented pattern ofproduction The rich alluvial plains along the southern Danube and the plains ofThrace Macedomaand Thessaly offered the main potential Again sheltered river valleys and depressions witllin the mountain regions permit settlement and agranan production and archaeological evidence ror settlement density suggests occasionally fairl) intensive exploitation of such resource In the southern regions olive and vine production on fam ily or joint holdings was extensive and from the tenth century at least the increased cultivatIOn of the mulberry aJ lowed an expanded prodttction of silk in the central and southern regions of Greece

Asia Minor has a relatively sma ll total surface of plain in [act only 9 of the total area is level or gently sloping

land Modem Turkey has benefited enorn1Otlsly from modem mechanised techniques and the use of fertilisers and this has helped expand cereal production and cash crops on the central plateau beyond the constraints imposed by climate and geograpby Considerable area~ in the south west and north-west are dominated by a Mediterranean vegetation of deciduous coni ferous or mixed forest at higher altitudes (the tree-line is between 1800 and 2100 metregt above sea level) and b) scrub and brush in me lov lands Whereas the central plateau is a region ofsteppe with forest ofoak and coniferous trees on the higher pans the damper and wanner northern zone along the Black Sea coastline is densely wooded and bas always been

source of timber The main products in this region today are tea (in the eastern districts) hazelmlts and tobacco with cornshymaize - dominatmg as lhe mam cereal crop The degree ofgraiD production increases markedly towards the west vith a greater

6 THE PALGRAVEATLAS OF BYZANTliE HISTORY

proportion of wheat to maize In me Marmara region which is also Ihe most heavily urbanised a very mixed agriculture has developed wheat rice tobacco sunflower maize olives and villes and silk neAegean zone stretching down as far as the island of Rhodes to the south produces a large number of cash crops - cotlon tobacco vines olives figs in Ute coastal regions with cereal and livestock(and a controlled opium crop) predominating in the hi ll country inland The plateau with its steppe climate and limited rainfal l IS dominated today by pastoral production (a third of the sheep and mree quarters of the Angora goat population are raised ill this region) and cereals _ some 40 of the countrys wheat is based here occupying 1)0 of the arable To the south the 1cditerranean region is dom inated by the Taurus stretching from Rhodes to the border with Syria and is further divisible into three sectors - the fertile and intensively cultivated coastal plains (citrus fruits sesame vegetables cotton) the centrallunestonc plateaux in lhe centre (pastoral) and the western semi-steppe district of the lakes where cereals dominate agricultural production The eastern highlands dominated in the north by mountail1 pastureilU1d (beef and dairy catlle) and coniferous forest and in the south by ooded steppe (sheep and goats) is sparsely populated with a limited agriculture dominated by barlcy and summer wheat To the south again the barren plateau at the foot ofLhe southern Taurus range is drained by tbe Euphl1ltes and Tigris rivers where agric ulture - mainly wheat vegetables rice and vines - is limited to sheltered or irrigated vaUeys and depressions The population is largel) semi-nomadic or nomadic

Apart from the introduction of different crops from Ule Ottoman period onwards (totton and flax in the wes and north ror example) the basjc pattern of agricultural production from late Roman time~ through the Byzantine period was much the same with the key difTerence that lack of modem technology meanl that levels ofproduction were very much lower and the possibilities for cereal production on the central plateau were also very much more limited But it is clear that the production of cereals - wheat and barley - on Ute one hand and vines oli ve fruit (especially in the south-west) and vegetables played an imponam part in the economy of the river valleys and coaslal plains in the north west and south-west while inland the cereal and frui tvegetable producing areas were lImited to sheltered zones and depressions on tbe plateau (such as the district around KonyalIkonion) or along river valleys In the uplands and on the central plateau pastoral economies had dominated ~ince anCIent times - horse breeding in Cappadocia for example cattle and pigs in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia sheo and horses elsewhere and long before the arrival ofthl Turkmcn clans with their central Asian pastOral tradition (although th extent and degree of pastoralism before the Turks remains unclear) Medieval sources - Greek Latin and othergt - all stress the arid or scrubland nature ofmuch ofthellateau and the waterless character ofconsiderable stretches the inhospimbllity of the mountain regions and the productivity and fe rti lity of the estern and southern plains and coastal districts

Egypt was the bread-basket of the late Roman and earl) BY7antine empire although the coastal regions ofTuniSla and ea~tem Algeria were the source of very considerable cereal production also along with vegetables fruil olives and grapes

After these regions were lost to Islam dunng the course of the seventh century the eastern empire turned to Asia Minor in particular and to the southern plain ofThrace for its staples especially whea t

The exploitation ofwoodland and scrubland has only recently attracted the attention of historians and archaeologists and it is clear that in the middle Byzantine period certainly and probably from late Roman times and before lhere was a well-structltred pattern of extracting resources in timber and other products from the western Anatolian southern Balkan and Pontic regions under imperial control Mineral resources were also extracted either through state-controlled operatJons (sometimes qUlle extensive) especially in the late Roman period or through smaller more fragmented private enterprise and state contracting in the Byzantine period Iron was II key resOlJrce and deposits in Palestine Ute Pontic region the TalIruslAnti-Taurus and the Caucasus the eastern Danube the Crimea Macedonia and the north-western Balkans were exploited in Ule late Roman period Copper was extrclcted from Cyprult the Caucasus and the Pontic mountains gold was obta ined eithcr directly or by trade from tbe Caucasus (Armenia) by trade from west Afiica and di rectlgt from deposits in the Rhodope mountains and Thrace in the souutern Balkan region Silver likewise came from Annenian sources and from Cyprus but there is some evidence that the silver deposits in Attica continued to be exploited while in the later period Serbian and Ca uca~ian silver was also obtained It is possibly indicative of the proportions of precious to nonshypreoious ores available to the empire that there are many more place-names with the element iron or copper in them than there are with that for gold or middotsi lvermiddot

Population 8od Settlement

estimating pre-modem population numbers and densi ti es is notoriously difficult and fraught with dangers methodological and fuctual so while the distribution ofseulement and seulement densities represented in -laps 15-18 give a reasonably accurate picture of the proportions between ditferent areas of the empire the numbers suggested below for mean population levels must be ~ken with a considerable degree of caution howllver credible they may appear to be On tlle whole I have erred on the cautious but even here exactitude is impossible

The climatic and geographIcal features which determined land-use liktmiddotwise determined where popUlat ions were concentrated and how many people the land could support The degrltf of continuity fro lll medieval to modern times is in Ihis respect considerable But tbere were within our penod very considerable fluctuations both in respect of U1e rewllOnship between tbe populations of urban and rural rCions nil tht one hand and in tenns oftheir density BroadJy spaking there appears to have been a long downward curve in pOPUlation during the late Roman period reaching a nadir in the latlr seventh and eighUt centuries followed by a slow recuvery into the later ninth and tenth centuries wi th a fairly dramatic rise in the twelfth century It has been estimated that lhe Plpulalicm of Roman Europe (including Britain and the Hallum Ir~linccs) was in the orner of approximately 67-70

million at the end of the second century CE falling to around 27- 30 million by the early eighth century rising again by 1300 to some 73 million with a particularly noticeable rise about 1200 CEoAll the evidence suggests a similar curve in the Dear eastern and in the later centuries -Islamic world and these accord with the minor climatic changes described above TIle catastrophic slump of the mid-fourteenth century wbich saw the population of Europe drop to somewhere in tbe region of45 million was made good within a century While these figures arc necessarily crude approximations in view of the nature of Ule available sources and the probl em~ of their interpretation and while one can point to a number of exceptions qui te apart from a differential rate of change from cast 10 west and including important regional and local variations they seem now generalJy agreed at least in their broad outl ines The most recent csomatClgt for the late Roman and Byzantine areas propose a population for the empires eastern provinces ofsome 19--20 million just before Lhe middle of the siUJ cenlury (before the plague of the 54Os) wuh a fu rther 7 million in the west of 17 mill ion in the early seventh century with a reduction to about

mill ion by the middle of the eighul century and a gradual rise to about 10 mil lion in the mid-ninth century 12 mi llion by the time of Basi l II falling again to about 10 mIllion (after the loss of central Anatolia to the Turks) in the mid-twelfth century 9 million in the early thirteenth century 5 mil lion by about 1280 and a consistent downward trend Lhereafter as the empires territorial extent was reduced Slighu higher ligures for the tenth to twelfth cent ur i e~ have also been proposed with a population ofsome I ampmillion in the 1010s for eampleAIl can be challenged on various grounds but they provide some very crude totals in respect of the amount of agrarian produce consumed and avai lable ror for example the support ofarmies or similar transient population bTO UPS

Given Ute geographical constraints described al ready it is apparent that the pattern of settlement and in particular the density ofsettlement will reflect thIS environment very closely and this is indeed the case both in modern times as ell as in tbe pre-modem and pre-i ndustrial world A comparison of the areas of settlement density as reflected in the prtSence of cities (as defined in the Roman legal context) in the late Roman and early Byzantine world wim one sho ing modem d~mographic patterns demonstrates a remarkable continuity in both the Balkans and Anatolia Such a map can tell us li ttle about absolute numbers of course nor about the fluctuations

across time in density and extent ofsettlement but it does point to the relationship between human populations and the ability of the land to support them A glance at the-demographic situation in Turkey before the Second World War (representing the midshy1930s) shows this relationship quite clearly (Map J 8) A map showing the density of Roman cities and Byzantine Episcopal sees highlights the fact iliat it is more or less the same areas whicb could maintain substantial populations in ancient and medieval times which saw the densest concentration ofurban centres and which may rhus be taken to have remained the most productive and heavily-settled regions of the Byzanline period aner tile transfornlation of the late ancient city network aller the seventh century A similar pattern emerge5 from a comparison of Roman and medieval population centres with

GENERALMAPS 7

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Ilap 13 The Balkans phYSIcal goTlIphy

throughout much of the late Hellenistic and Roman im perial period was relatively wamler and milder than in the period which preceded it and constiruted a cli matic optimum which avoured the expansion of agriculture By about 500 CE this

sItuation was changing with colder conditions persisting up to the mid-ninth century The human environment of tbe laler fifth 10 sevenlh centuries thus became both more cludlenging and tbe economy of existence more fragile Combined wim the great plague ofthe middle oflhe sixth century this may have affected Ihe human population in a number ofways although these remain unclear and the subject of continuing debate Some marginal lands were abandoned soil erosion increased v here agriculture receded the colder wetter climate generated increasing water volume in rivers and watercourses contributing to alluviation and lowland flooding in many more exposed areas It remains difficult to disentangle the effects ofclimatic and human factors on the changing landscape During the ninth century this trend was reversed - and is paralleled by an extension ofagriculrure and ofhuman exploitation of woodland and scrubland strong demographic gro1h and an increasing densilY of settlement and rate of exploitation of agrarian resources But from the fourteenth century once more this tendency was halted and

4 THE PALGRAVE ATlAS Of BYZAlT11NE HISTORY

widl lower temperatures increased gllcistion in high alpine ones (in particular the European Alps) a growth in the rate

of afforestarion a reduction in agriculrural exploi tation and a demographic decline the fragile conditions of existence of the human populations of the region were once more thrown into disequiljbrium wi th phenomena such as the fourteenthshycentury Black Death one of the most obvious accompanying developments All these phenomena thus form the backgrounu to the li ttle ice age of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries It is against this background that we must understand and interpret the social economic and political history of the late Roman an d Byzantine worlds

Laud-use lind Resources

Land-use and the exploitation of natural resources are closel) determined by the geophysical and climatic fra mework described above Four basic types of productive exploitation occur shy arable fanmng pasloral farming the exploitation of woodland and scmbland and the extraction and worJing of mmeral rescrurces The extent of agricultural activity of the

~tI) Cii~ ~ 5Qc~ ~ u ~~

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exploitation of natural resources such as woodlands and of particular crops such as cereals or grapes is reflected also in the climatic fluctuations and shifts vhich took place across the period in question

The modem Balkan regions have changed very dramaticall since the Second World War lIre result of both mechanisation and intensification of production on the one hand and of political rCrOm] and change on ihe other In Bulgaria and Romania and some of the western Balkan countries for exampl ~ collectivisation encouraged a considerable improvement in output and efficiency althougb tbe longershyterm social and economic results were less fortunate In spite of these changes in the organisation of production however the patterns of land-use themselves remained very stable a reflection oHhe constraints imposed by terrain geography and climate - approximately 30 ohhe land devoted to agricultural production with pasture and meado amounting to one fifth of the tota l In the estern coastal regions the chief crops are grains (wheat and com) industrial crops such as beet corton and tohacco and usually on a market-garden basis fruits and vegetables Vineyards are also a developing feature in the west although the) ha~e been a traditional crop in the south Sinuiar ratios prevail in the cemral and eastern regions except where the broader plains and alluvial regions perm it a more extensive cu ltivation of cercals n e medieval picture is not dissimilar except for the absence of cottOIl the more limited surface area devoted to agriculture (for example me modem draining of the Danube delta marshlands has eonsidlTdbly expanded the land available for cereal and other crops) and a much more fragmented pattern ofproduction The rich alluvial plains along the southern Danube and the plains ofThrace Macedomaand Thessaly offered the main potential Again sheltered river valleys and depressions witllin the mountain regions permit settlement and agranan production and archaeological evidence ror settlement density suggests occasionally fairl) intensive exploitation of such resource In the southern regions olive and vine production on fam ily or joint holdings was extensive and from the tenth century at least the increased cultivatIOn of the mulberry aJ lowed an expanded prodttction of silk in the central and southern regions of Greece

Asia Minor has a relatively sma ll total surface of plain in [act only 9 of the total area is level or gently sloping

land Modem Turkey has benefited enorn1Otlsly from modem mechanised techniques and the use of fertilisers and this has helped expand cereal production and cash crops on the central plateau beyond the constraints imposed by climate and geograpby Considerable area~ in the south west and north-west are dominated by a Mediterranean vegetation of deciduous coni ferous or mixed forest at higher altitudes (the tree-line is between 1800 and 2100 metregt above sea level) and b) scrub and brush in me lov lands Whereas the central plateau is a region ofsteppe with forest ofoak and coniferous trees on the higher pans the damper and wanner northern zone along the Black Sea coastline is densely wooded and bas always been

source of timber The main products in this region today are tea (in the eastern districts) hazelmlts and tobacco with cornshymaize - dominatmg as lhe mam cereal crop The degree ofgraiD production increases markedly towards the west vith a greater

6 THE PALGRAVEATLAS OF BYZANTliE HISTORY

proportion of wheat to maize In me Marmara region which is also Ihe most heavily urbanised a very mixed agriculture has developed wheat rice tobacco sunflower maize olives and villes and silk neAegean zone stretching down as far as the island of Rhodes to the south produces a large number of cash crops - cotlon tobacco vines olives figs in Ute coastal regions with cereal and livestock(and a controlled opium crop) predominating in the hi ll country inland The plateau with its steppe climate and limited rainfal l IS dominated today by pastoral production (a third of the sheep and mree quarters of the Angora goat population are raised ill this region) and cereals _ some 40 of the countrys wheat is based here occupying 1)0 of the arable To the south the 1cditerranean region is dom inated by the Taurus stretching from Rhodes to the border with Syria and is further divisible into three sectors - the fertile and intensively cultivated coastal plains (citrus fruits sesame vegetables cotton) the centrallunestonc plateaux in lhe centre (pastoral) and the western semi-steppe district of the lakes where cereals dominate agricultural production The eastern highlands dominated in the north by mountail1 pastureilU1d (beef and dairy catlle) and coniferous forest and in the south by ooded steppe (sheep and goats) is sparsely populated with a limited agriculture dominated by barlcy and summer wheat To the south again the barren plateau at the foot ofLhe southern Taurus range is drained by tbe Euphl1ltes and Tigris rivers where agric ulture - mainly wheat vegetables rice and vines - is limited to sheltered or irrigated vaUeys and depressions The population is largel) semi-nomadic or nomadic

Apart from the introduction of different crops from Ule Ottoman period onwards (totton and flax in the wes and north ror example) the basjc pattern of agricultural production from late Roman time~ through the Byzantine period was much the same with the key difTerence that lack of modem technology meanl that levels ofproduction were very much lower and the possibilities for cereal production on the central plateau were also very much more limited But it is clear that the production of cereals - wheat and barley - on Ute one hand and vines oli ve fruit (especially in the south-west) and vegetables played an imponam part in the economy of the river valleys and coaslal plains in the north west and south-west while inland the cereal and frui tvegetable producing areas were lImited to sheltered zones and depressions on tbe plateau (such as the district around KonyalIkonion) or along river valleys In the uplands and on the central plateau pastoral economies had dominated ~ince anCIent times - horse breeding in Cappadocia for example cattle and pigs in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia sheo and horses elsewhere and long before the arrival ofthl Turkmcn clans with their central Asian pastOral tradition (although th extent and degree of pastoralism before the Turks remains unclear) Medieval sources - Greek Latin and othergt - all stress the arid or scrubland nature ofmuch ofthellateau and the waterless character ofconsiderable stretches the inhospimbllity of the mountain regions and the productivity and fe rti lity of the estern and southern plains and coastal districts

Egypt was the bread-basket of the late Roman and earl) BY7antine empire although the coastal regions ofTuniSla and ea~tem Algeria were the source of very considerable cereal production also along with vegetables fruil olives and grapes

After these regions were lost to Islam dunng the course of the seventh century the eastern empire turned to Asia Minor in particular and to the southern plain ofThrace for its staples especially whea t

The exploitation ofwoodland and scrubland has only recently attracted the attention of historians and archaeologists and it is clear that in the middle Byzantine period certainly and probably from late Roman times and before lhere was a well-structltred pattern of extracting resources in timber and other products from the western Anatolian southern Balkan and Pontic regions under imperial control Mineral resources were also extracted either through state-controlled operatJons (sometimes qUlle extensive) especially in the late Roman period or through smaller more fragmented private enterprise and state contracting in the Byzantine period Iron was II key resOlJrce and deposits in Palestine Ute Pontic region the TalIruslAnti-Taurus and the Caucasus the eastern Danube the Crimea Macedonia and the north-western Balkans were exploited in Ule late Roman period Copper was extrclcted from Cyprult the Caucasus and the Pontic mountains gold was obta ined eithcr directly or by trade from tbe Caucasus (Armenia) by trade from west Afiica and di rectlgt from deposits in the Rhodope mountains and Thrace in the souutern Balkan region Silver likewise came from Annenian sources and from Cyprus but there is some evidence that the silver deposits in Attica continued to be exploited while in the later period Serbian and Ca uca~ian silver was also obtained It is possibly indicative of the proportions of precious to nonshypreoious ores available to the empire that there are many more place-names with the element iron or copper in them than there are with that for gold or middotsi lvermiddot

Population 8od Settlement

estimating pre-modem population numbers and densi ti es is notoriously difficult and fraught with dangers methodological and fuctual so while the distribution ofseulement and seulement densities represented in -laps 15-18 give a reasonably accurate picture of the proportions between ditferent areas of the empire the numbers suggested below for mean population levels must be ~ken with a considerable degree of caution howllver credible they may appear to be On tlle whole I have erred on the cautious but even here exactitude is impossible

The climatic and geographIcal features which determined land-use liktmiddotwise determined where popUlat ions were concentrated and how many people the land could support The degrltf of continuity fro lll medieval to modern times is in Ihis respect considerable But tbere were within our penod very considerable fluctuations both in respect of U1e rewllOnship between tbe populations of urban and rural rCions nil tht one hand and in tenns oftheir density BroadJy spaking there appears to have been a long downward curve in pOPUlation during the late Roman period reaching a nadir in the latlr seventh and eighUt centuries followed by a slow recuvery into the later ninth and tenth centuries wi th a fairly dramatic rise in the twelfth century It has been estimated that lhe Plpulalicm of Roman Europe (including Britain and the Hallum Ir~linccs) was in the orner of approximately 67-70

million at the end of the second century CE falling to around 27- 30 million by the early eighth century rising again by 1300 to some 73 million with a particularly noticeable rise about 1200 CEoAll the evidence suggests a similar curve in the Dear eastern and in the later centuries -Islamic world and these accord with the minor climatic changes described above TIle catastrophic slump of the mid-fourteenth century wbich saw the population of Europe drop to somewhere in tbe region of45 million was made good within a century While these figures arc necessarily crude approximations in view of the nature of Ule available sources and the probl em~ of their interpretation and while one can point to a number of exceptions qui te apart from a differential rate of change from cast 10 west and including important regional and local variations they seem now generalJy agreed at least in their broad outl ines The most recent csomatClgt for the late Roman and Byzantine areas propose a population for the empires eastern provinces ofsome 19--20 million just before Lhe middle of the siUJ cenlury (before the plague of the 54Os) wuh a fu rther 7 million in the west of 17 mill ion in the early seventh century with a reduction to about

mill ion by the middle of the eighul century and a gradual rise to about 10 mil lion in the mid-ninth century 12 mi llion by the time of Basi l II falling again to about 10 mIllion (after the loss of central Anatolia to the Turks) in the mid-twelfth century 9 million in the early thirteenth century 5 mil lion by about 1280 and a consistent downward trend Lhereafter as the empires territorial extent was reduced Slighu higher ligures for the tenth to twelfth cent ur i e~ have also been proposed with a population ofsome I ampmillion in the 1010s for eampleAIl can be challenged on various grounds but they provide some very crude totals in respect of the amount of agrarian produce consumed and avai lable ror for example the support ofarmies or similar transient population bTO UPS

Given Ute geographical constraints described al ready it is apparent that the pattern of settlement and in particular the density ofsettlement will reflect thIS environment very closely and this is indeed the case both in modern times as ell as in tbe pre-modem and pre-i ndustrial world A comparison of the areas of settlement density as reflected in the prtSence of cities (as defined in the Roman legal context) in the late Roman and early Byzantine world wim one sho ing modem d~mographic patterns demonstrates a remarkable continuity in both the Balkans and Anatolia Such a map can tell us li ttle about absolute numbers of course nor about the fluctuations

across time in density and extent ofsettlement but it does point to the relationship between human populations and the ability of the land to support them A glance at the-demographic situation in Turkey before the Second World War (representing the midshy1930s) shows this relationship quite clearly (Map J 8) A map showing the density of Roman cities and Byzantine Episcopal sees highlights the fact iliat it is more or less the same areas whicb could maintain substantial populations in ancient and medieval times which saw the densest concentration ofurban centres and which may rhus be taken to have remained the most productive and heavily-settled regions of the Byzanline period aner tile transfornlation of the late ancient city network aller the seventh century A similar pattern emerge5 from a comparison of Roman and medieval population centres with

GENERALMAPS 7

exploitation of natural resources such as woodlands and of particular crops such as cereals or grapes is reflected also in the climatic fluctuations and shifts vhich took place across the period in question

The modem Balkan regions have changed very dramaticall since the Second World War lIre result of both mechanisation and intensification of production on the one hand and of political rCrOm] and change on ihe other In Bulgaria and Romania and some of the western Balkan countries for exampl ~ collectivisation encouraged a considerable improvement in output and efficiency althougb tbe longershyterm social and economic results were less fortunate In spite of these changes in the organisation of production however the patterns of land-use themselves remained very stable a reflection oHhe constraints imposed by terrain geography and climate - approximately 30 ohhe land devoted to agricultural production with pasture and meado amounting to one fifth of the tota l In the estern coastal regions the chief crops are grains (wheat and com) industrial crops such as beet corton and tohacco and usually on a market-garden basis fruits and vegetables Vineyards are also a developing feature in the west although the) ha~e been a traditional crop in the south Sinuiar ratios prevail in the cemral and eastern regions except where the broader plains and alluvial regions perm it a more extensive cu ltivation of cercals n e medieval picture is not dissimilar except for the absence of cottOIl the more limited surface area devoted to agriculture (for example me modem draining of the Danube delta marshlands has eonsidlTdbly expanded the land available for cereal and other crops) and a much more fragmented pattern ofproduction The rich alluvial plains along the southern Danube and the plains ofThrace Macedomaand Thessaly offered the main potential Again sheltered river valleys and depressions witllin the mountain regions permit settlement and agranan production and archaeological evidence ror settlement density suggests occasionally fairl) intensive exploitation of such resource In the southern regions olive and vine production on fam ily or joint holdings was extensive and from the tenth century at least the increased cultivatIOn of the mulberry aJ lowed an expanded prodttction of silk in the central and southern regions of Greece

Asia Minor has a relatively sma ll total surface of plain in [act only 9 of the total area is level or gently sloping

land Modem Turkey has benefited enorn1Otlsly from modem mechanised techniques and the use of fertilisers and this has helped expand cereal production and cash crops on the central plateau beyond the constraints imposed by climate and geograpby Considerable area~ in the south west and north-west are dominated by a Mediterranean vegetation of deciduous coni ferous or mixed forest at higher altitudes (the tree-line is between 1800 and 2100 metregt above sea level) and b) scrub and brush in me lov lands Whereas the central plateau is a region ofsteppe with forest ofoak and coniferous trees on the higher pans the damper and wanner northern zone along the Black Sea coastline is densely wooded and bas always been

source of timber The main products in this region today are tea (in the eastern districts) hazelmlts and tobacco with cornshymaize - dominatmg as lhe mam cereal crop The degree ofgraiD production increases markedly towards the west vith a greater

6 THE PALGRAVEATLAS OF BYZANTliE HISTORY

proportion of wheat to maize In me Marmara region which is also Ihe most heavily urbanised a very mixed agriculture has developed wheat rice tobacco sunflower maize olives and villes and silk neAegean zone stretching down as far as the island of Rhodes to the south produces a large number of cash crops - cotlon tobacco vines olives figs in Ute coastal regions with cereal and livestock(and a controlled opium crop) predominating in the hi ll country inland The plateau with its steppe climate and limited rainfal l IS dominated today by pastoral production (a third of the sheep and mree quarters of the Angora goat population are raised ill this region) and cereals _ some 40 of the countrys wheat is based here occupying 1)0 of the arable To the south the 1cditerranean region is dom inated by the Taurus stretching from Rhodes to the border with Syria and is further divisible into three sectors - the fertile and intensively cultivated coastal plains (citrus fruits sesame vegetables cotton) the centrallunestonc plateaux in lhe centre (pastoral) and the western semi-steppe district of the lakes where cereals dominate agricultural production The eastern highlands dominated in the north by mountail1 pastureilU1d (beef and dairy catlle) and coniferous forest and in the south by ooded steppe (sheep and goats) is sparsely populated with a limited agriculture dominated by barlcy and summer wheat To the south again the barren plateau at the foot ofLhe southern Taurus range is drained by tbe Euphl1ltes and Tigris rivers where agric ulture - mainly wheat vegetables rice and vines - is limited to sheltered or irrigated vaUeys and depressions The population is largel) semi-nomadic or nomadic

Apart from the introduction of different crops from Ule Ottoman period onwards (totton and flax in the wes and north ror example) the basjc pattern of agricultural production from late Roman time~ through the Byzantine period was much the same with the key difTerence that lack of modem technology meanl that levels ofproduction were very much lower and the possibilities for cereal production on the central plateau were also very much more limited But it is clear that the production of cereals - wheat and barley - on Ute one hand and vines oli ve fruit (especially in the south-west) and vegetables played an imponam part in the economy of the river valleys and coaslal plains in the north west and south-west while inland the cereal and frui tvegetable producing areas were lImited to sheltered zones and depressions on tbe plateau (such as the district around KonyalIkonion) or along river valleys In the uplands and on the central plateau pastoral economies had dominated ~ince anCIent times - horse breeding in Cappadocia for example cattle and pigs in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia sheo and horses elsewhere and long before the arrival ofthl Turkmcn clans with their central Asian pastOral tradition (although th extent and degree of pastoralism before the Turks remains unclear) Medieval sources - Greek Latin and othergt - all stress the arid or scrubland nature ofmuch ofthellateau and the waterless character ofconsiderable stretches the inhospimbllity of the mountain regions and the productivity and fe rti lity of the estern and southern plains and coastal districts

Egypt was the bread-basket of the late Roman and earl) BY7antine empire although the coastal regions ofTuniSla and ea~tem Algeria were the source of very considerable cereal production also along with vegetables fruil olives and grapes

After these regions were lost to Islam dunng the course of the seventh century the eastern empire turned to Asia Minor in particular and to the southern plain ofThrace for its staples especially whea t

The exploitation ofwoodland and scrubland has only recently attracted the attention of historians and archaeologists and it is clear that in the middle Byzantine period certainly and probably from late Roman times and before lhere was a well-structltred pattern of extracting resources in timber and other products from the western Anatolian southern Balkan and Pontic regions under imperial control Mineral resources were also extracted either through state-controlled operatJons (sometimes qUlle extensive) especially in the late Roman period or through smaller more fragmented private enterprise and state contracting in the Byzantine period Iron was II key resOlJrce and deposits in Palestine Ute Pontic region the TalIruslAnti-Taurus and the Caucasus the eastern Danube the Crimea Macedonia and the north-western Balkans were exploited in Ule late Roman period Copper was extrclcted from Cyprult the Caucasus and the Pontic mountains gold was obta ined eithcr directly or by trade from tbe Caucasus (Armenia) by trade from west Afiica and di rectlgt from deposits in the Rhodope mountains and Thrace in the souutern Balkan region Silver likewise came from Annenian sources and from Cyprus but there is some evidence that the silver deposits in Attica continued to be exploited while in the later period Serbian and Ca uca~ian silver was also obtained It is possibly indicative of the proportions of precious to nonshypreoious ores available to the empire that there are many more place-names with the element iron or copper in them than there are with that for gold or middotsi lvermiddot

Population 8od Settlement

estimating pre-modem population numbers and densi ti es is notoriously difficult and fraught with dangers methodological and fuctual so while the distribution ofseulement and seulement densities represented in -laps 15-18 give a reasonably accurate picture of the proportions between ditferent areas of the empire the numbers suggested below for mean population levels must be ~ken with a considerable degree of caution howllver credible they may appear to be On tlle whole I have erred on the cautious but even here exactitude is impossible

The climatic and geographIcal features which determined land-use liktmiddotwise determined where popUlat ions were concentrated and how many people the land could support The degrltf of continuity fro lll medieval to modern times is in Ihis respect considerable But tbere were within our penod very considerable fluctuations both in respect of U1e rewllOnship between tbe populations of urban and rural rCions nil tht one hand and in tenns oftheir density BroadJy spaking there appears to have been a long downward curve in pOPUlation during the late Roman period reaching a nadir in the latlr seventh and eighUt centuries followed by a slow recuvery into the later ninth and tenth centuries wi th a fairly dramatic rise in the twelfth century It has been estimated that lhe Plpulalicm of Roman Europe (including Britain and the Hallum Ir~linccs) was in the orner of approximately 67-70

million at the end of the second century CE falling to around 27- 30 million by the early eighth century rising again by 1300 to some 73 million with a particularly noticeable rise about 1200 CEoAll the evidence suggests a similar curve in the Dear eastern and in the later centuries -Islamic world and these accord with the minor climatic changes described above TIle catastrophic slump of the mid-fourteenth century wbich saw the population of Europe drop to somewhere in tbe region of45 million was made good within a century While these figures arc necessarily crude approximations in view of the nature of Ule available sources and the probl em~ of their interpretation and while one can point to a number of exceptions qui te apart from a differential rate of change from cast 10 west and including important regional and local variations they seem now generalJy agreed at least in their broad outl ines The most recent csomatClgt for the late Roman and Byzantine areas propose a population for the empires eastern provinces ofsome 19--20 million just before Lhe middle of the siUJ cenlury (before the plague of the 54Os) wuh a fu rther 7 million in the west of 17 mill ion in the early seventh century with a reduction to about

mill ion by the middle of the eighul century and a gradual rise to about 10 mil lion in the mid-ninth century 12 mi llion by the time of Basi l II falling again to about 10 mIllion (after the loss of central Anatolia to the Turks) in the mid-twelfth century 9 million in the early thirteenth century 5 mil lion by about 1280 and a consistent downward trend Lhereafter as the empires territorial extent was reduced Slighu higher ligures for the tenth to twelfth cent ur i e~ have also been proposed with a population ofsome I ampmillion in the 1010s for eampleAIl can be challenged on various grounds but they provide some very crude totals in respect of the amount of agrarian produce consumed and avai lable ror for example the support ofarmies or similar transient population bTO UPS

Given Ute geographical constraints described al ready it is apparent that the pattern of settlement and in particular the density ofsettlement will reflect thIS environment very closely and this is indeed the case both in modern times as ell as in tbe pre-modem and pre-i ndustrial world A comparison of the areas of settlement density as reflected in the prtSence of cities (as defined in the Roman legal context) in the late Roman and early Byzantine world wim one sho ing modem d~mographic patterns demonstrates a remarkable continuity in both the Balkans and Anatolia Such a map can tell us li ttle about absolute numbers of course nor about the fluctuations

across time in density and extent ofsettlement but it does point to the relationship between human populations and the ability of the land to support them A glance at the-demographic situation in Turkey before the Second World War (representing the midshy1930s) shows this relationship quite clearly (Map J 8) A map showing the density of Roman cities and Byzantine Episcopal sees highlights the fact iliat it is more or less the same areas whicb could maintain substantial populations in ancient and medieval times which saw the densest concentration ofurban centres and which may rhus be taken to have remained the most productive and heavily-settled regions of the Byzanline period aner tile transfornlation of the late ancient city network aller the seventh century A similar pattern emerge5 from a comparison of Roman and medieval population centres with

GENERALMAPS 7

N

~~ ~~~ ~l

~

shy~

~

~ ~

~J~ ~

shy

-shy

bull bullbull ~ t middot bull ~

~

bull

bull bullbull

bull

( - ~

~-

bull bull bullbull bullbull

bull bull

bull

~Il~

~

bull

bull bullbullf

bull

o 400 lulometres

o 260 rTljles bull

bull

bull

1

~ --~

----shy

~

bull -----

bullbull

bull

bull

~

--~

~

bull bull

bull

~ bull --~

-

I

bull bull

bull-

)--

4shyI

bullbullbull

~

-

middot J middot 1--J

~bull

bull

lap 15 Major population centres c 500 CEo(Ali~ Jones CiJics oflhe Easlem Roman Provinces)

8 THE PALGRAVE ATLAS OF BYZANTINE IlIS1ORY

I)

2000+

1000-2000

500-1000

0-500

200 kilometres

100 miles

I ~I Most densely populated regions

J

Map 16 The Balkan major rltpulatlttll centres 7th-12th cenluries

modern demographic concentrations in the Balkans btaring In mind the changes brought about by industrialisation and mechanisation of both mdustrial and agrarian llroduCuon

There were several phases of evol ution in the overllll seU1emcnt pattern of the empire WhiCh will be dealt witll in lfrealer detail in the following chapters But the two most apparent shifts occurred during the fit1h an d sixth centuries in the Balkan territories of the empire and during the sith and ~eenth centuries in Asia 1inoT v hen tovllS decreased in Size when a larger number of intennediate semi-rural semi-urban unified centres evolved and when village communities came to playa more significant fiscal and political role than the) priousl) bad and in the ninth to twelfth centuries when relatively peaceful circumstances saw a demographic upswing an increase in urban consumption and market activity a growth oflocaJ industr) and In a closer relationshIp between supply demand and consumption in the Byzantint territories and the neigllbouring l ones especially with the west and the Islamic world Both these movements can be related La the chang~s in gemrul climatic conditions in the period from the later fourth lClIluryollwards and again from the middle of the ninth century on While It would not be correct to draw lOO many direct

relationship~ there can be no doubt of the mdirect causal associations which eioled

Riers R03ds 3nd Communications

Again and as we would expect maJOr cotnJlllmicat ions routes were derennlOcd by the geography of the landscape and for the heartlands of the medieval east Roman empire the intershyregional route can be identified ith some certainty~ although their phy~ical trltlces are not always so readily located In the Balkans the major as well alt the l es~ important routes pass in several places through relatively narrow and often LJuite high passes easily blocked Winter conditions alone made passage hazardous as even toda in many cases but human agency might also close acces~ shy for example to an invading army PohlJcaJ control has always been difficult and the fragmented gography made for a fragmenteu polilical landscape also The history of the Balkans the pattern of communications and the degree and depth of Byzantine political control show this ~pecially clearly for there was no obvIOUS geographical focal point in the south Balkan region the mam cities in

GE1ERALMAPS 9

ltfshy ~ 0

~

degCl ~d

VUfll7 Asia II1inllr mOJor population centres 7th-I~lh ~nturi~S

MapJ8 Turkey in 1935 average popuJalion pcrsquare mile

10 THE PALCRAE ATLAS OF BYZANTINE H ISTORY

~- ~ - ~

~ Most densely populated regions

125-412 1(1)12 75-99 51-74 26-50 S-25

L

Elevation (metres)

2000+

1000~2000

500-1000

0-500

o ~k~tr~ o l00mlies

o 00

--~ ltI _gt ---r

- - -gtJ ~~Vlt1 ~ 2shy

~6~~10 J q ~

o~~-

(5

500- 1000

0-500

o 200 kilometres o 100 miles

TOWIIsfforlresSb

I Conswntinople 2 HerolJei(1 5 Dyrrhachlon 6 Allona

- ---shy

Adrianople 4 Thessalonica 7

I VimlOacium 13 Develw

Skopje ~ Naissus (Nisect)10 Singidunum (Be lgrade) 11 Serdica (Sofia) I ~ Philippopolis

17 Varna 2 1 Nikopo li 15 Corinth

14 18 22 26

Anc hialos MIlrkianollpoJis Noval SirmlUm

up 19 The Balkans major route 7th- 12th centuries

the medieval penod were Thcssalonlca and Constantinople both peripheral to the interior of tbe peninsuJaIn Ule highJand di~tricts especially the Rbodopl and Pindus ranges govennuent power 8amp always circumscribed by distance and remoteness regions Where pagan ism and heresy could survive relatively uninterrupted by State or cccltSiastical authority In Asia Minor the waterless traCts across the centraJ plateau ~imjlarly made travel hazardous while the eastern highlands were particularly di fficult to negotiate in the winter season The narrow mOlmtatn passes across the Taurus made dlat range a nalural barner and it Was successfully employed by the imperial government in thl~ way d~ng much of the eighth ninth and tenth centuries icross the Middltgt Eastern and African provinces orlhe empire

15 Mesembria 16 ~oviodunum 19 Pliska w Tmovo 3 Dorostolon ~4 Arkadiopoli 27 Semiin

tile road system cOOli nued 10 expand into the fifth century as tbe frontie-r between Roman and Persian lands shIfted and as strategic priorities altered over time In North Afnca again strategic considerntions and in particular the moilllenance or communications between key coastal garrisons and ports and the fortresses covering thc interior were important factors and continued to influence imperial construction into lhereign ofJustiruan

The eastern Roman empire benefited from he Cre31J0n of mili tary roads constructed large ly in the period 100 BCEshy100 CE by tbe Roman army shy one of the reasons for their success and effiCiency on campaign for tbis netyork also eased and aided nun-military communications the movement

GENERALMAPS 11

l

ri

~

34

Fillll

Elevation (mel res)

2000+

1000middot2000 500middot1000

0-500

lLl1 I (l i Minor najnr mUles Tlh shy l~lh centuries

of goods people and inlOnTlation But the regular maintenance of roads which was a state burden upon towns and which was ndmilll~tered and regulated at the local leveL seems during the later Roman period to have sulTcred come~haL One significant consequence of Ihigt lmiddothange and the difficulties it created for the use orwheeled vehicles a~ an cver-lOcreasmg dependence on pack-animals - horse~ ponies mule donkeys camels Strict regulations were established during the later third amI founhccnturics on the size_ loads and typlS ofwheeled vehicle employed b) the stale transport ~ystem This was divided into two branches the fest pOlgt (fester-moving pack-animals light cruts und hOTse3 aT ponies) and the stem post (ox-carts and similar heavy vehicles) and although the service was drasthally reduced after the sixth cenwry (and cut back ulnady under Justinian) il seems that a unified transport und courier servicc continued to operate through the Byzantine period

There were many types and standards of road wide roads naITO tracks or paths paedand unpaved roads roads suitable or unsuilsble for 3gons or wheeled vchicC$ are al l mentioned

U THEPALGRAVE AfLAS OF BYZANTlNF HlSTORY

in the sources Roads of strategic importance were general more regularly maintamed Arter the sixth century it would appear thal certain key routes only were kept up largely b) means of compu lsory dutics imposed on local communiti rs and appropriately skilled craftsmen The road system from lile middle of the seventh century in Anatolia was th us less extensive than in the fifth century or before but still elTective ~Imilar considerations apply in the Balkans The maintenance of Dluch ofthe Tlclwork became alocalised and irregular maUer and the limited evidence suggests that the great mtlJorit) ofnonshymililUry routes Oecame Iiule more than paths or track~ suitable onl) for pack-animals with paved or hlJd surfaces onl) n~llf toTlS and fortresses

Transport by weter was gentrally much fastcr3nd cen~inl far chcaper than by land Long-distance overland movement of bulk goods such as graiTl was generally prohibitively exp~T1SI _ the coit of feeding draugbt-oxen malOt311ling drmtfgt and carter paying local tolls combmed Wllh the extrtme1y slo rate ofmovement ofox-carts multiplied the value ()f the g(

Adrianople - across the Sredna Gora range shy over the Shipka pass through the Balkan range itse lf- Nikopolis Vellko n-nolO) shy Novae (Svistol) on the Danube

GENERAL MAPS 13

To l1S1rortrc~e~

(haledon 1 Kahorkloll 13 dramyllion 19 Sislon 25 Ankyra 31 Scbaslltia

3 EudlailJl

~ Iiomcdia S Amorion 1-1 Allilltip 20 Podarul ~b Amfllgtris 32 Tnlf1ltfoll 38 Ciuog

o ~~~~t o 00r----J

~

3 Sikaia 4

ltJ Akroinnn III

15 Se1eukcis Itgt 21 Ikol1lon ~ Sinope 18

n KClloneiil 34 )1 SOlorxb 4U

MalagillJl Chonai Tarsus KOflm

Amisos Kamacba Rhodes

5 Dorylaion 11 Ephc~os

17 nalllrbo~

23 Kaiania 1) Amaseia 35 Melilene

( Kotyaion 12 Smyrna g Gennanikela 24 ChaFiJlIlCll 30 DlZJnlon 36 Kluudiopolis

being transponed beyond the price of anyone who would otherwise have bought them Although the bulk transport of goods over long distances did somet imes happen it was really only Ule state with some activity funded by wealU1Y private individuals which could pay for this The cost-enectiveness of shipping entailing tbe carriage of large quantities of goods in a single vessel handled by a small crew also gave coastal settlements a great advantage with regard to their access to the wider world

Balkan ROLlles

The lia Egnatia Constantinople - Herakleia in Thraee - Thessalonica - Edessa - Bitola - Achrida (OillitI) - Elbasan - Dyrrachion (Durriis) on the Adriatic coast Constantinople - Adrianople (EdirneJ - along the Maritsa - Ph ilippopolis (Ploldiv) - the pass of Succi (guarded at the nOl1hem exit by the so-called galeS of Trajan and harred by a wall and fons) - the pass of Vakarel- Serdica (Sofia) - the Nisava vaJley - Naissus (Nis - key crossroads along the routes southwards to the Aegean and Macedonia westwards to the Adriatic soutb-eastwards to Thrace and Constantinople and nOl1hwards to the Danube) - the va lley of the Morava - Viminac ium (m rood Kostalac) - Singidunum (Belgrade) This was a key military route and it was complemented by a number of spurs to east and west giving access 10 the south Danube plain the Haimos mountains and Black Sea coastal plain as well as in the west the valleys of the west Morava Ibar and Drin rivers Thessalonica - the Axios (Vardor) valley and the pass of Demir Kapija (altern ative easterly loop avoiding this defile and leading through another pass known to ule Byzantines as Kleidion - the key) - Stoboi (Slobi - Skopia (Skopje) - Naissos (Nis) Constantinople - Anchial os (Pomoipound) - Mcsembria (Nesebar) - Odessos (Varna) - mouth of the Danube

Analoltan ROlJles

Chrysoupolis (opposite Constantinople) - NikomedeiashyNikaia - Malagina (an important imperial military base) - Dorylaion- (easterly route via KotyaionlwesterJy route via Amorion) - Akroinon - Ikonionl Synnada - Kolossail Chonai There were two options to rum off to the south along this last route the firs t down 10 Kibyra and thence across the mountains to the coast at Attaleia or fiuther west at Myra Alternatively the road from Chonai led westwardlgt Yia Laodikeia and Tralles to Ephesos on the coasl konion -Archelais - TyanaIKaisarcia konion - Savatra - Thebasa - KybistralHerakleia - Loulon - Podandos - ltaki t River gorge (through the Anri-Taurus mountains) Kaisareia - Tyana- Loulon - Podandos - Cilician Gates (Kfilek Bogazl) - the Cilieirul plain - TarsoslAdana Kaisareia - (i) - Ankaral Basilika TheTTlla - Tabion - Euchaital (u) - Sebasteia - Dazimon - Amaseia Sebasteia - Kamachal Koloneia - Satala Dorylaion - valley of the Tembris river (mod Porsuk Su) - Trikomia - Gorbeous - Saniana - Timios Stavros - Basilika Therrna - Chars ianon Kastron - Bathys Ryax - Sebasteia - (and on to Kaisarei~ north LO Dazimon east to Koloneia and SataJa or south-east to Melitenel Saniana - Mokissos - loustinianoupolis - Kaisareia

Rotlte~ acJOs~ the TaliIll Ranges infO Byantine lands

Ci tician Gates - Podandl)S - LO lll on - Ilcrakki Ikonionf Loulon - Tyana - Kaisareia Germanikeia (Mara~) - Koukousos - Kaisareia Adata - Zapetra - Mtlilene - Kaisareia - Lykando Kaisareia - SebasteialMtlilene - Arsamosata (Simsat) - Khl iat (on L Vall) Mopsouestia (al-Massisa) - Anazarba ( Ain Zarba) - Sision - Kaisareia

• 01
• 02
• 03
• 04
• 05
• 06
• 07

ltfshy ~ 0

~

degCl ~d

VUfll7 Asia II1inllr mOJor population centres 7th-I~lh ~nturi~S

MapJ8 Turkey in 1935 average popuJalion pcrsquare mile

10 THE PALCRAE ATLAS OF BYZANTINE H ISTORY

~- ~ - ~

~ Most densely populated regions

125-412 1(1)12 75-99 51-74 26-50 S-25

L

Elevation (metres)

2000+

1000~2000

500-1000

0-500

o ~k~tr~ o l00mlies

o 00

--~ ltI _gt ---r

- - -gtJ ~~Vlt1 ~ 2shy

~6~~10 J q ~

o~~-

(5

500- 1000

0-500

o 200 kilometres o 100 miles

TOWIIsfforlresSb

I Conswntinople 2 HerolJei(1 5 Dyrrhachlon 6 Allona

- ---shy

Adrianople 4 Thessalonica 7

I VimlOacium 13 Develw

Skopje ~ Naissus (Nisect)10 Singidunum (Be lgrade) 11 Serdica (Sofia) I ~ Philippopolis

17 Varna 2 1 Nikopo li 15 Corinth

14 18 22 26

Anc hialos MIlrkianollpoJis Noval SirmlUm

up 19 The Balkans major route 7th- 12th centuries

the medieval penod were Thcssalonlca and Constantinople both peripheral to the interior of tbe peninsuJaIn Ule highJand di~tricts especially the Rbodopl and Pindus ranges govennuent power 8amp always circumscribed by distance and remoteness regions Where pagan ism and heresy could survive relatively uninterrupted by State or cccltSiastical authority In Asia Minor the waterless traCts across the centraJ plateau ~imjlarly made travel hazardous while the eastern highlands were particularly di fficult to negotiate in the winter season The narrow mOlmtatn passes across the Taurus made dlat range a nalural barner and it Was successfully employed by the imperial government in thl~ way d~ng much of the eighth ninth and tenth centuries icross the Middltgt Eastern and African provinces orlhe empire

15 Mesembria 16 ~oviodunum 19 Pliska w Tmovo 3 Dorostolon ~4 Arkadiopoli 27 Semiin

tile road system cOOli nued 10 expand into the fifth century as tbe frontie-r between Roman and Persian lands shIfted and as strategic priorities altered over time In North Afnca again strategic considerntions and in particular the moilllenance or communications between key coastal garrisons and ports and the fortresses covering thc interior were important factors and continued to influence imperial construction into lhereign ofJustiruan

The eastern Roman empire benefited from he Cre31J0n of mili tary roads constructed large ly in the period 100 BCEshy100 CE by tbe Roman army shy one of the reasons for their success and effiCiency on campaign for tbis netyork also eased and aided nun-military communications the movement

GENERALMAPS 11

l

ri

~

34

Fillll

Elevation (mel res)

2000+

1000middot2000 500middot1000

0-500

lLl1 I (l i Minor najnr mUles Tlh shy l~lh centuries

of goods people and inlOnTlation But the regular maintenance of roads which was a state burden upon towns and which was ndmilll~tered and regulated at the local leveL seems during the later Roman period to have sulTcred come~haL One significant consequence of Ihigt lmiddothange and the difficulties it created for the use orwheeled vehicles a~ an cver-lOcreasmg dependence on pack-animals - horse~ ponies mule donkeys camels Strict regulations were established during the later third amI founhccnturics on the size_ loads and typlS ofwheeled vehicle employed b) the stale transport ~ystem This was divided into two branches the fest pOlgt (fester-moving pack-animals light cruts und hOTse3 aT ponies) and the stem post (ox-carts and similar heavy vehicles) and although the service was drasthally reduced after the sixth cenwry (and cut back ulnady under Justinian) il seems that a unified transport und courier servicc continued to operate through the Byzantine period

There were many types and standards of road wide roads naITO tracks or paths paedand unpaved roads roads suitable or unsuilsble for 3gons or wheeled vchicC$ are al l mentioned

U THEPALGRAVE AfLAS OF BYZANTlNF HlSTORY

in the sources Roads of strategic importance were general more regularly maintamed Arter the sixth century it would appear thal certain key routes only were kept up largely b) means of compu lsory dutics imposed on local communiti rs and appropriately skilled craftsmen The road system from lile middle of the seventh century in Anatolia was th us less extensive than in the fifth century or before but still elTective ~Imilar considerations apply in the Balkans The maintenance of Dluch ofthe Tlclwork became alocalised and irregular maUer and the limited evidence suggests that the great mtlJorit) ofnonshymililUry routes Oecame Iiule more than paths or track~ suitable onl) for pack-animals with paved or hlJd surfaces onl) n~llf toTlS and fortresses

Transport by weter was gentrally much fastcr3nd cen~inl far chcaper than by land Long-distance overland movement of bulk goods such as graiTl was generally prohibitively exp~T1SI _ the coit of feeding draugbt-oxen malOt311ling drmtfgt and carter paying local tolls combmed Wllh the extrtme1y slo rate ofmovement ofox-carts multiplied the value ()f the g(

Adrianople - across the Sredna Gora range shy over the Shipka pass through the Balkan range itse lf- Nikopolis Vellko n-nolO) shy Novae (Svistol) on the Danube

GENERAL MAPS 13

To l1S1rortrc~e~

(haledon 1 Kahorkloll 13 dramyllion 19 Sislon 25 Ankyra 31 Scbaslltia

3 EudlailJl

~ Iiomcdia S Amorion 1-1 Allilltip 20 Podarul ~b Amfllgtris 32 Tnlf1ltfoll 38 Ciuog

o ~~~~t o 00r----J

~

3 Sikaia 4

ltJ Akroinnn III

15 Se1eukcis Itgt 21 Ikol1lon ~ Sinope 18

n KClloneiil 34 )1 SOlorxb 4U

MalagillJl Chonai Tarsus KOflm

Amisos Kamacba Rhodes

5 Dorylaion 11 Ephc~os

17 nalllrbo~

23 Kaiania 1) Amaseia 35 Melilene

( Kotyaion 12 Smyrna g Gennanikela 24 ChaFiJlIlCll 30 DlZJnlon 36 Kluudiopolis

being transponed beyond the price of anyone who would otherwise have bought them Although the bulk transport of goods over long distances did somet imes happen it was really only Ule state with some activity funded by wealU1Y private individuals which could pay for this The cost-enectiveness of shipping entailing tbe carriage of large quantities of goods in a single vessel handled by a small crew also gave coastal settlements a great advantage with regard to their access to the wider world

Balkan ROLlles

The lia Egnatia Constantinople - Herakleia in Thraee - Thessalonica - Edessa - Bitola - Achrida (OillitI) - Elbasan - Dyrrachion (Durriis) on the Adriatic coast Constantinople - Adrianople (EdirneJ - along the Maritsa - Ph ilippopolis (Ploldiv) - the pass of Succi (guarded at the nOl1hem exit by the so-called galeS of Trajan and harred by a wall and fons) - the pass of Vakarel- Serdica (Sofia) - the Nisava vaJley - Naissus (Nis - key crossroads along the routes southwards to the Aegean and Macedonia westwards to the Adriatic soutb-eastwards to Thrace and Constantinople and nOl1hwards to the Danube) - the va lley of the Morava - Viminac ium (m rood Kostalac) - Singidunum (Belgrade) This was a key military route and it was complemented by a number of spurs to east and west giving access 10 the south Danube plain the Haimos mountains and Black Sea coastal plain as well as in the west the valleys of the west Morava Ibar and Drin rivers Thessalonica - the Axios (Vardor) valley and the pass of Demir Kapija (altern ative easterly loop avoiding this defile and leading through another pass known to ule Byzantines as Kleidion - the key) - Stoboi (Slobi - Skopia (Skopje) - Naissos (Nis) Constantinople - Anchial os (Pomoipound) - Mcsembria (Nesebar) - Odessos (Varna) - mouth of the Danube

Analoltan ROlJles

Chrysoupolis (opposite Constantinople) - NikomedeiashyNikaia - Malagina (an important imperial military base) - Dorylaion- (easterly route via KotyaionlwesterJy route via Amorion) - Akroinon - Ikonionl Synnada - Kolossail Chonai There were two options to rum off to the south along this last route the firs t down 10 Kibyra and thence across the mountains to the coast at Attaleia or fiuther west at Myra Alternatively the road from Chonai led westwardlgt Yia Laodikeia and Tralles to Ephesos on the coasl konion -Archelais - TyanaIKaisarcia konion - Savatra - Thebasa - KybistralHerakleia - Loulon - Podandos - ltaki t River gorge (through the Anri-Taurus mountains) Kaisareia - Tyana- Loulon - Podandos - Cilician Gates (Kfilek Bogazl) - the Cilieirul plain - TarsoslAdana Kaisareia - (i) - Ankaral Basilika TheTTlla - Tabion - Euchaital (u) - Sebasteia - Dazimon - Amaseia Sebasteia - Kamachal Koloneia - Satala Dorylaion - valley of the Tembris river (mod Porsuk Su) - Trikomia - Gorbeous - Saniana - Timios Stavros - Basilika Therrna - Chars ianon Kastron - Bathys Ryax - Sebasteia - (and on to Kaisarei~ north LO Dazimon east to Koloneia and SataJa or south-east to Melitenel Saniana - Mokissos - loustinianoupolis - Kaisareia

Rotlte~ acJOs~ the TaliIll Ranges infO Byantine lands

Ci tician Gates - Podandl)S - LO lll on - Ilcrakki Ikonionf Loulon - Tyana - Kaisareia Germanikeia (Mara~) - Koukousos - Kaisareia Adata - Zapetra - Mtlilene - Kaisareia - Lykando Kaisareia - SebasteialMtlilene - Arsamosata (Simsat) - Khl iat (on L Vall) Mopsouestia (al-Massisa) - Anazarba ( Ain Zarba) - Sision - Kaisareia

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l

ri

~

34

Fillll

Elevation (mel res)

2000+

1000middot2000 500middot1000

0-500

lLl1 I (l i Minor najnr mUles Tlh shy l~lh centuries

of goods people and inlOnTlation But the regular maintenance of roads which was a state burden upon towns and which was ndmilll~tered and regulated at the local leveL seems during the later Roman period to have sulTcred come~haL One significant consequence of Ihigt lmiddothange and the difficulties it created for the use orwheeled vehicles a~ an cver-lOcreasmg dependence on pack-animals - horse~ ponies mule donkeys camels Strict regulations were established during the later third amI founhccnturics on the size_ loads and typlS ofwheeled vehicle employed b) the stale transport ~ystem This was divided into two branches the fest pOlgt (fester-moving pack-animals light cruts und hOTse3 aT ponies) and the stem post (ox-carts and similar heavy vehicles) and although the service was drasthally reduced after the sixth cenwry (and cut back ulnady under Justinian) il seems that a unified transport und courier servicc continued to operate through the Byzantine period

There were many types and standards of road wide roads naITO tracks or paths paedand unpaved roads roads suitable or unsuilsble for 3gons or wheeled vchicC$ are al l mentioned

U THEPALGRAVE AfLAS OF BYZANTlNF HlSTORY

in the sources Roads of strategic importance were general more regularly maintamed Arter the sixth century it would appear thal certain key routes only were kept up largely b) means of compu lsory dutics imposed on local communiti rs and appropriately skilled craftsmen The road system from lile middle of the seventh century in Anatolia was th us less extensive than in the fifth century or before but still elTective ~Imilar considerations apply in the Balkans The maintenance of Dluch ofthe Tlclwork became alocalised and irregular maUer and the limited evidence suggests that the great mtlJorit) ofnonshymililUry routes Oecame Iiule more than paths or track~ suitable onl) for pack-animals with paved or hlJd surfaces onl) n~llf toTlS and fortresses

Transport by weter was gentrally much fastcr3nd cen~inl far chcaper than by land Long-distance overland movement of bulk goods such as graiTl was generally prohibitively exp~T1SI _ the coit of feeding draugbt-oxen malOt311ling drmtfgt and carter paying local tolls combmed Wllh the extrtme1y slo rate ofmovement ofox-carts multiplied the value ()f the g(

Adrianople - across the Sredna Gora range shy over the Shipka pass through the Balkan range itse lf- Nikopolis Vellko n-nolO) shy Novae (Svistol) on the Danube

GENERAL MAPS 13

To l1S1rortrc~e~

(haledon 1 Kahorkloll 13 dramyllion 19 Sislon 25 Ankyra 31 Scbaslltia

3 EudlailJl

~ Iiomcdia S Amorion 1-1 Allilltip 20 Podarul ~b Amfllgtris 32 Tnlf1ltfoll 38 Ciuog

o ~~~~t o 00r----J

~

3 Sikaia 4

ltJ Akroinnn III

15 Se1eukcis Itgt 21 Ikol1lon ~ Sinope 18

n KClloneiil 34 )1 SOlorxb 4U

MalagillJl Chonai Tarsus KOflm

Amisos Kamacba Rhodes

5 Dorylaion 11 Ephc~os

17 nalllrbo~

23 Kaiania 1) Amaseia 35 Melilene

( Kotyaion 12 Smyrna g Gennanikela 24 ChaFiJlIlCll 30 DlZJnlon 36 Kluudiopolis

being transponed beyond the price of anyone who would otherwise have bought them Although the bulk transport of goods over long distances did somet imes happen it was really only Ule state with some activity funded by wealU1Y private individuals which could pay for this The cost-enectiveness of shipping entailing tbe carriage of large quantities of goods in a single vessel handled by a small crew also gave coastal settlements a great advantage with regard to their access to the wider world

Balkan ROLlles

The lia Egnatia Constantinople - Herakleia in Thraee - Thessalonica - Edessa - Bitola - Achrida (OillitI) - Elbasan - Dyrrachion (Durriis) on the Adriatic coast Constantinople - Adrianople (EdirneJ - along the Maritsa - Ph ilippopolis (Ploldiv) - the pass of Succi (guarded at the nOl1hem exit by the so-called galeS of Trajan and harred by a wall and fons) - the pass of Vakarel- Serdica (Sofia) - the Nisava vaJley - Naissus (Nis - key crossroads along the routes southwards to the Aegean and Macedonia westwards to the Adriatic soutb-eastwards to Thrace and Constantinople and nOl1hwards to the Danube) - the va lley of the Morava - Viminac ium (m rood Kostalac) - Singidunum (Belgrade) This was a key military route and it was complemented by a number of spurs to east and west giving access 10 the south Danube plain the Haimos mountains and Black Sea coastal plain as well as in the west the valleys of the west Morava Ibar and Drin rivers Thessalonica - the Axios (Vardor) valley and the pass of Demir Kapija (altern ative easterly loop avoiding this defile and leading through another pass known to ule Byzantines as Kleidion - the key) - Stoboi (Slobi - Skopia (Skopje) - Naissos (Nis) Constantinople - Anchial os (Pomoipound) - Mcsembria (Nesebar) - Odessos (Varna) - mouth of the Danube

Analoltan ROlJles

Chrysoupolis (opposite Constantinople) - NikomedeiashyNikaia - Malagina (an important imperial military base) - Dorylaion- (easterly route via KotyaionlwesterJy route via Amorion) - Akroinon - Ikonionl Synnada - Kolossail Chonai There were two options to rum off to the south along this last route the firs t down 10 Kibyra and thence across the mountains to the coast at Attaleia or fiuther west at Myra Alternatively the road from Chonai led westwardlgt Yia Laodikeia and Tralles to Ephesos on the coasl konion -Archelais - TyanaIKaisarcia konion - Savatra - Thebasa - KybistralHerakleia - Loulon - Podandos - ltaki t River gorge (through the Anri-Taurus mountains) Kaisareia - Tyana- Loulon - Podandos - Cilician Gates (Kfilek Bogazl) - the Cilieirul plain - TarsoslAdana Kaisareia - (i) - Ankaral Basilika TheTTlla - Tabion - Euchaital (u) - Sebasteia - Dazimon - Amaseia Sebasteia - Kamachal Koloneia - Satala Dorylaion - valley of the Tembris river (mod Porsuk Su) - Trikomia - Gorbeous - Saniana - Timios Stavros - Basilika Therrna - Chars ianon Kastron - Bathys Ryax - Sebasteia - (and on to Kaisarei~ north LO Dazimon east to Koloneia and SataJa or south-east to Melitenel Saniana - Mokissos - loustinianoupolis - Kaisareia

Rotlte~ acJOs~ the TaliIll Ranges infO Byantine lands

Ci tician Gates - Podandl)S - LO lll on - Ilcrakki Ikonionf Loulon - Tyana - Kaisareia Germanikeia (Mara~) - Koukousos - Kaisareia Adata - Zapetra - Mtlilene - Kaisareia - Lykando Kaisareia - SebasteialMtlilene - Arsamosata (Simsat) - Khl iat (on L Vall) Mopsouestia (al-Massisa) - Anazarba ( Ain Zarba) - Sision - Kaisareia

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