Startseite Altertumswissenschaften & Ägyptologie Taxes and Authority in the Late Antique Countryside
book: Taxes and Authority in the Late Antique Countryside
Buch Open Access

Taxes and Authority in the Late Antique Countryside

The Reach of the State and the Pagarchs of Byzantine Egypt (284–642 CE)
  • Matthias Stern
  • Gefördert durch: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
Sprache: Englisch
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 2025
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Über dieses Buch

Open Access

How did the late Roman Empire operate in rural areas, where most of its subjects lived? The papyri from Egypt provide glimpses of state activity at the local level, how the countryside responded to it, and thus how "empire" looked on the ground. Since a major motivator for state activity at the local level was tax collection, Taxes and Authority in the Late Antique Countryside homes in on the pagarchs: key fiscal actors at the intersection between provincial, city, and village institutions from the fourth through the seventh centuries CE. The book contextualizes the pagarchs’ dealings, backgrounds, and networks from the imperial sphere to the village level, exploring topics such as tax collection procedures in the villages, central accounting and staffing in the cities, the competition of local aristocrats over the countryside, official careers, and local agency versus imperial policy. The result is an analysis of the social mechanics of the fiscal regime in a region of the imperial periphery. Exploring the abundant and diverse papyrological source material, this book offers a uniquely detailed insight into the dynamic relationship between the Roman Empire and local communities in late antiquity.

Information zu Autoren / Herausgebern

Matthias Stern, Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts / Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.

Informationen zur Veröffentlichung
Seiten und Bilder/Illustrationen im Buch
eBook veröffentlicht am:
27. Januar 2025
eBook ISBN:
9783111493183
Gebunden veröffentlicht am:
27. Januar 2025
Gebunden ISBN:
9783111435923
Seiten und Bilder/Illustrationen im Buch
Frontmatter:
17
Inhalt:
394
Abbildungen:
4
Tabellen:
6
Heruntergeladen am 26.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111493183/html
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