Constantinople: the core of Roman survival and revival (Pic by by RadoJavor at deviantart.com)
The Romans are finally recovering from three centuries of struggle. One of the lesser-discussed reasons for this was the payments made to the elites for their loyalty.
Period: 802-912
Download: Revival
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The History of Byzantium 
thanks, needed to escape to Byzantium today…
Another Great episode as usual really enjoying this series.
I’ve found these 2 songs based on Byzantium from the game Crusader Kings 2. I i think these 2 pieces capture the essence of the later Roman empire worth a listen
Can we call these court titles as a form of proto-government bonds? Essentially, the elites are diversifying their risk by buying safer government titles that paid a smaller yet consistent amount with a coupon expiry of … well their death. Plus you get the bonus of bragging rights.
With that basis I have a question. How consistent and reliable was the emperor/government in paying back its courtiers. Did they ever cut down on payments or delay them. Considering they used gold coins and the govt cannot outinflate the currency in bad times, how common were the pay cuts? If you were to give a bond rating to each of the court titles, what would it be?
Interesting stuff.
Yes absolutely government bonds are a good comparison. But it’s more than bragging rights you get with them. You gain access to the court and with it the potential for even more lucrative appointments or help with legal cases etc. The government did not delay or cut pay often. Only when major crises came like in the 7th and 11th centuries. Individual offices or sinecures might be retired or abolished. And new ones created. The suggestion is that in the 10-11th centuries various Emperors allowed people from lower down the social scale to buy in to the system which added to the 11th century crisis when the state went bankrupt after Manzikert.