Byzantine Government

  

The government of the Byzantine Empire was headed and dominated by the emperor, but there were many other important officials who assisted in operating the finances, judiciary, military. and bureaucracy of a huge territory. Without elections, the ministers, senators, and councilors who governed the people largely acquired their position through imperial patronage or because of their status as large landowners.

The government was multi-leveled based on the geographical division of the empire’s population and although corruption, rebellions, and invasions threatened the functioning of the system, and even caused its reduction in scale, the system nevertheless survived for centuries to become one of the most sophisticated apparatus of government seen in any empire in history.


Key ministers who reported to the emperor but had some autonomy of authority included the following:

    • chief legal officer and head of the judiciary
    • the magister officiorum who looked after the general administration of the palace, the army and its supplies, the secret police, transport, and foreign affairs
    • the cursus publicus who supervised the public post
    • the comes rei private who looked after the imperial estates and the emperor’s personal wealth
Given the size of the empire and the complexity of all the different facets of government necessary for it to run smoothly, the emperor was, by necessity, obliged to consult with a team of close advisors. Such members of an inner circle at court, the comitatus, need not have held any formal position, but there were other permanent offices and positions which helped disseminate the imperial will to all corners of the empire.

 




 

 

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