Civil War and Agrarian Unrest: The Confederate South and Southern Italy by Enrico Dal Lago

In the tenth century, Byzantium still had substantial possessions in southern Italy: the Catepanate kept its own private law and its Latin language and rite, while the theme of Calabria was thoroughly Hellenized. They developed a strong sense of independence, due to bad government and the failure of the Empire to defend them against Arab raids, except by paying tribute. In the eleventh century, written sources and archaeology reveal a multiplication of fortified settlements and refuges, built by public and religious authorities, and also by the aristocracy, but the increased presence of professional military units increased local dissension. The only large estates belonged to a few Calabrian bishoprics. The main difference between the two provinces lay in the syncopated chronology of their evolution. The Apulian economy grew in the tenth century, with the development of the ports on the Adriatic and the Mediterranean oil trade, which enriched notables, at a time when Calabria was being devastated by the Arabs. After a fortification campaign and some fiscal and military measures provided by Byzantium, the Calabrian economy prospered, exporting wheat, raw silk, iron, and gold. The Arabs moved their attacks north, targeting Apulia, which was in the grip of civil war: in each city the anti-Byzantine faction revolted with the support of Lombards and local conterati troops. In Calabria, administration and defence fragmented and were taken over, in the case of towns, by virtually autonomous kastra, and, in the countryside, by the aristocracy.

Download Full-text

V. Economy

New Surveys in the Classics ◽

10.1017/s0533245100021313 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 28-34

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Civil War ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Northern Italy ◽

Economic Life ◽

Economic Recovery ◽

Economic Expansion ◽

Pax Romana

The accession of Augustus inaugurated an era of relatively stable government, the basic condition for economic recovery and expansion. The new regime was dedicated to the cause of civil peace and the pacification of Rome’s enemies. The success of this policy furthered internal economic development and, insofar as it expanded the territory under Roman control, extended.the economic horizons of the empire. The settlement of substantial numbers of Italian soldier colonists in northern Italy or abroad, moreover, promoted the recovery of central and southern Italy, now relieved of intense pressure on the land, and furthered the development of more thinly populated areas of the empire. It is unnecessary to hold that Augustus had a clear and coherent policy of stimulating economic expansion. But he did create the conditions under which economic life could flourish. After his reign the empire suffered no major calamities except for the civil war of 68-69 and the ensuing revolt of Civilis, and it faced only a limited threat from across the frontiers. The Pax Romana was by and large uninterrupted.

Download Full-text