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The Policies of Nikephoros Ii Phokas in the Context of the Byzantine Economic Recovery

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The Policies of Nikephoros Ii Phokas in the Context of the Byzantine Economic Recovery THE POLICIES OF NIKEPHOROS II PHOKAS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BYZANTINE ECONOMIC RECOVERY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY NICCOLÒ FATTORI IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES JUNE 2013 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Doç Dr. Özlem Tur Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science Dr. Richard, Dietrich Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Mustafa, Soykut (METU,HIST) Dr. Richard, Dietrich (METU, HIST) Prof. Dr. Seçil, Karal Akgün (METU, HIST) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Niccolò Fattori Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE POLICIES OF NIKEPHOROS II PHOKAS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BYZANTINE ECONOMIC RECOVERY Fattori, Niccolò M.S., Department of Middle Eastern Studies Supervisor : Dr. Richard Dietrich June 2013, 143 pages This thesis will analyze the policies and the eastern military campaigns of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, focusing on their correlation with the gradual recovery of the Byzantine economy that took place from the ninth to the eleventh century. The emperor’s conquering campaigns in Cilicia are seen as a response to the social and fiscal effects of said recovery, which caused the Byzantine state to assume a more aggressive stance.The thesis is structured in three parts, the first dealing with the causes and modes of the economic recovery, the second examining the policies of Phokas and the third detailing his campaigns in the east. The aim of this work is to see how the limited supply of precious metals and the growth of intermediate stages in the circulation process of coinage by the end of the ninth century reduced the relative role of the state in the economy, producing the paradoxical phenomenon of a richer society and a state struggling to get tax revenues. This situation prompted the new policy-making circles led by Nikephoros Phokas towards the implementation of a more distinctly militaristic policy with the final goal of expanding the fiscal basis of the Byzantine state eastwards, towards those Muslim entities that satisfied the criteria of vulnerability and wealth. Keywords: Byzantine History, Tenth Century, Cilicia, Nikephoros Phokas, gold coinage iv ÖZ NİKEPHOROS II PHOKAS'IN BİZANS'IN EKONOMİK İYİLEŞMESİ BAĞLAMINDA POLİTİKALARI Fattori, Niccolò Yüksek Lisans, Orta Doğu Arastırmaları Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Dr. Richard Dietrich Haziran 2013, 153 sayfa Bu tez, Nikephoros II Phokas’ın politikaları ve askeri mücadelelerini, Bizans ekononmisinin dokuzuncu yüzyıldan onbirinci yüzyıla kadar olan kademeli iyileşmesine odaklanarak incelemektedir. İmparatorun Kilikya’ daki başarılı askeri mücadeleleri,adı geçen ve Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun daha agresif bir duruş amasına neden olan iyileşmenin sosyal ve mali bir etkilenmesi olarak kabul edilir. Tez üç bölümden oluşmaktadır; birinci bölüm ekonomik iyileşmenin nedenlerini ve yöntemlerini; ikinci bölüm Phokas’ın politikalarını; ve üçüncü bölüm imparatorun doğudaki mücadelelerini anlatmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, sınırlı miktarda tedarik edilen değerli metallerin ve para basmadaki orta evre gelişiminin, dokuzuncu yüzyılda devletin ekonomideki rolünü nasıl azalttığını ve paradoksal olarak bu durumun nasıl daha zengin bir toplum yarattığını ve devletin bu zengin toplumdan vergi almak için nasıl mücadele ettiğini görmektir. Bu durum Nikephoros Phokas tarafından yeni politika devirlerinin daha açık bir şekilde militarist yönde uygulanmasını, Bizans devletinin doğuda , özellikle de savunmasız ve zengin Müslümanlara karşı,mali yönde gelişmesi nihai amacıyla körüklemiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Bizans, onuncu yüzyıl, Cilicia, Nikephoros Phokas, Altın Para v TO MY PARENTS AND MY SISTERS, AS A SMALL PAYMENT OF MY HUGE GRATITUDE DEBT. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I owe my deepest gratitude to my parents and my family, whose affection and closeness never withered despite the harsh time we all went through. Also, it is difficult to overstate my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Richard Dietrich who offered guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and unrelenting support throughout the research and beyond. Prof. Antonio Strozzi also deserves a heartfelt thanks for his encouraging advices and his help with the acquisition of otherwise unobtainable material regarding the history of Byzantine Crete. I would also like to thank Irem for her help with the bureaucratic procedures, and of course Margherita who had already defeated the thesis ordeal and shared with me her experience and expertise. A special thanks goes to friends and my girlfriend Pelin, who shared with me the load of my stress and succeeded in the most difficult task of keeping an interested face while I blathered seemingly nonsensical sentences about the circulation of golden coinage. vii CONTENTS PLAGIARISM……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv ÖZ…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… v DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………………………… viii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………………………………… x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION……..……..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……… 1 1.1 The Sources …..………..………..………..………..………..………..………….. 6 2. FROM CRISIS TO EXPANSION…………….………..………..………..………..………..……….. 11 2.1 Essential outlines of the situation after the seventh century ……………… 11 2.2 The demise of the ancient city as a feasible urban model ………………….. 16 2.3 The state-powered recovery ………..………..………..………..………..……………. 22 2.4 Rural districts and Tax Exaction ………..………..………..………..………..……….. 26 2.5 Stabilization on the eastern and western frontiers ………..………..………… 32 2.6 State intervention in trade ………..………..………..………..………..………..…… 37 2.7 Monasteries and estates, parallel networks of production and distribution ………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……………… 42 2.8 Aristocracy, social chains and pressure points ………..………..………..……… 45 2.9 Byzantium before Nikephoros II: the reign of Romanos the younger .. 49 3. NIKEPHOROS II PHOKAS AND HIS POLICIES………….. …………………….………..…… 53 3.1. Biographical notes………..………..………..………..………..………..……..………….. 53 3.1.1. The early life………..………..………..………..………..………..…………….. 53 viii 3.1.2. The Phokades under Constantine VII and Romanos II ..……….. 56 3.1.3. Uprising and enthronement ..……..………..………..………..…………. 60 3.2. Legislation overview ……..………..………..………..………..………..……………… 62 3.2.1. The land and army legislation ..…………………………………………… 63 3.2.2. The policies towards the Church and the ecclesiastical property ……..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………….. 78 3.2.3. Devaluation and profiteering: monetary and economic policies of Phokas………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……… 85 3.3. Concluding remarks………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……… 91 4. THE EASTERN CAMPAIGNS…………..………..………..………..………..………..………..… 95 4.1. Method and sources………..………..………..………..………..………..…… 95 4.2. Prelude: military activities in the East under Constantine VII and Romanos II………..………..………..………..………..………..………..……….. 97 4.3. The sack of Aleppo, 961-62………..………..………..………..………..…… 103 4.4. “Like a blunt dart”: the first Cilician campaign of 964……………… 108 4.5. Coup de grace for Tarsus: the campaign of 965………..……………… 113 4.6. Road to Antioch: from 966 to 969………..………..………..………..……. 117 5. CONCLUSIONS………..……..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..…….. 125 REFERENCES……………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..………..….. 137 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 143 ix LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1, Byzantine acquisition in the east during the first half of the tenth century …………. 98 Fig. 2, the campaign of 961-62 ………….………….………….………….………….………….………….…….. 108 Fig. 3, the campaign of 964 ………….………….………….………….………….………….………….…………. 112 Fig. 4, the campaign of 965 ………….………….………….………….………….………….………….…………. 116 Fig. 5, the campaign of 966 ………….………….………….………….………….………….………….…………. 120 Fig. 6, the campaign of 968 ………….………….………….………….………….………….………….…………. 122 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis will attempt an analysis of the economic policies and the military campaigns of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. During his tenure of the domestikos office in the east, and more so during his six years on the throne (from 963 to 969), the empire witnessed both an explosive territorial expansion in the east, which resulted in the conquest of Crete, the Cilician plain and the metropolis of Antioch, and the effects of an equally surprising economic recovery, which would finally blossom during the Komnenean age in the eleventh-twelfth centuries. It has to be clear from the beginning that in this thesis the terms economic expansion, stabilization, consolidation and similar will refer to the collective expansion, stabilization and consolidation of 1) coin circulation, 2) demographic growth, 3) regional and interregional trade. The period under analysis lacked the
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