To the Issue of Etatization of the Late Antique Polis: Marinus the Syrian and the Dissolution of the City Curiae Early in the 6th Century A.D.

Abstract

The paper attempts to outline the stages of the polis dying out in late antiquity (its Byzantinization). This process included gradual elimination of municipal self-government and etatization,

that is, the replacement of the polis's main functions by the state represented by officials. There is no established scheme and no clear description of the stages of this process in science, including the Russian academic educational paradigm. The authors propose one of the possible options for identifying these stages, with a greater focus on the fourth stage, the early 6th century when the state established the institution of Vindics (Ecdics) – ones who protected the state interests in the city and were responsible for tax collection. This reform is associated with the activities of the prefect Marinus the Syrian, whose biography is considered in the context of the problem. The authors conclude that, despite the data from sources and various opinions in historiography, the establishment of Vindics did not abolish the activities of city curiae (councils), since we know of only four episodes of Vindics' activities.  Special attention is paid to the difference between the positions of the defensor (ekdikos) of the city community and that of vindic. In Greek, it sounds the same – ekdikos (defender), but in the former case, since the end of the 4th century, the ekdikos defended the interests of the city (polis) before the state, while in the latter case, in the early 6th century, the ekdikos (vindic) of Anastasius defended the interests of the state in the city (tax collection). In fact, the polis had lost its main functions (municipal self-government) by the end of the 6th century, but the formal positions inherited from the former magistracies were preserved for a very long time, already as administrative positions, until the 10th century, which often lead to a confusion in concepts.