Byzantine policy towards Paristrion in the mid-eleventh century: another interpretation

Abstract

Abstract Archaeological and numismatic evidence for Byzantine activity in Paristrion, the lands beside the lower Danube, are surveyed and interpreted alongside the few pertinent written sources. It is suggested that the onset of Pecheneg invasions across the lower Danube, shortly after the death of Basil II (d. 1025), provoked his successors to implement a policy which allowed the Pechenegs, and other northern peoples, controlled access to markets and merchandise. This system allowed ‘barbarians’ to acquire the goods and trappings of distinction they desired, and was generally effective in promoting trading over raiding. An attempt to Reform the system, and recoup bullion — perhaps by the introduction of a phoundax — provoked a rebellion c. 1072.

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