On the Evolution of Municipal Duties and Magistracies in the Early Byzantine City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2026-53-1-81-88Keywords:
late antiquity, curia, polis, city, magistracies, munera, curials, Digest, early Byzantine periodAbstract
Municipal duties were a fundamental element of the city organization in the East during the Early Byzantine Empire. This paper examines the role played by the Early Byzantine Curials in this area. The Digest, a source of primary importance for the study of municipal life during the Late Empire, has very limited significance for the 6th century, since the historical evolution of the municipal system changed the traditional magistracies and their functions. In the Late Empire, the monetary aspect predominates more and more clearly in the changing functions of the magistracies. At this time, the magistracies undergo an evolution, turning from elective positions into administrative ones. By the 5th-6th centuries, most of the traditional magistracies in the cities have already disappeared. The transition of municipal functions from the curials to a new elite – the protoctitors – reflects the evolution of the main urban magistracies in the 6th-7th centuries A.D. This is part of the process of profound changes in the late antique city – its Byzantinization.
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Laniado А. 2006. Le christianisme et l’évolution des institutions municipales du Bas-Empire: L’exemple du defensor civitatis. In: Die Stadt in der Spätantike – Niedergang oder Wandel? Stuttgart: 319–334.
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Rautman М. 2011. Sardis in Late Antiquity. Archaeology and the Cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiquity. Ann Arbor: 1–26.
Saradi H.G. 2006. The Byzantine City in the Sixth Century. Literary Images and Historical Reality. Athens, Society of Messenian Archaeological Studies, 543 p.
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