Kommerkiarios

The ''kommerkiarios'' (Greek: κομμερκιάριος) was a fiscal official of the Byzantine Empire charged with the collection of the imperial sales tax or ''kommerkion''.

History and functions

The ''kommerkiarios'' was perhaps the successor of the ''comes commerciorum'', which was a late Roman controller of trade on the frontier.. According to the late 4th-century ''Notitia Dignitatum'', there were three ''comites commerciorum'' under the control of the ''comes sacrarum largitionum'': one for Oriens and Egypt, one for Illyricum, and one for Moesia, Scythia Minor and Pontus (i.e. the Danube frontier and the Black Sea).

The term ''kommerkiarios'' first appears in fragmentary inscriptions of a law issued by Emperor Anastasios I (r. 491–518). The ''kommerkiarioi'' were stationed in many areas of the frontier, as indicated by their seals, which appear to substantiate the statement made by the 6th-century historian Procopius about Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) installing customs stations "at each strait" and sending two ''archontes'' to every location in order to collect tolls. Gabriel Millet, a French Byzantinist, considered the early ''kommerkiarioi'' as merchants of the Byzantine emperor, but his views are deemed questionable.

For one or two years, the 'genikos''''kommerkiarios'' would rent out his office at public auction. His functions entailed those of a quartermaster general of the Byzantine army, a duty collector, or of an entrepreneur (or group of entrepreneurs) who obtained a monopoly of silk production and silk trade. The ''kommerkiarioi'' had custom-made seals for their merchandise, displaying the image of the reigning emperor (or emperors), the indictions for which each seal was valid (ranging from 673/674 to 832/833), and the names of the warehouses (or ''apothekai'', concentration and redistribution points) of the imperial provinces under their jurisdiction. For a brief period in 695–697 and permanently from 730/731 to 832/833, these custom-made seals never mention the names of individual ''kommerkiarioi'', but rather mention the expression "of the imperial ''kommerkia''" (supposedly because the ''kommerkia'' were offices operated by employees of the Byzantine state who may have exercised general control over the merchandise and collected duties). According to Nikolaos Oikonomides, the alterations made to the seals of the ''kommerkiarioi'' are to be attributed to Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741), who executed a systematic campaign of restoring state control over activities that were previously controlled by private interests.. After the middle of the 8th century, these ''kommerkia'' only appear in Macedonia and Thrace.

By the end of the 7th century, the ''kommerkiarioi'' decreased in importance. According to the ''Kletorologion'' of Philotheos, they are mentioned as subaltern officials of the '' genikon logothesion''. These new officials were known as ''basilikoi'' imperial"''kommerkiarioi'' and had jurisdiction over themes or ports, controlled imports and exports, and collected some duties. On the seals of the 9th to 11th centuries, the ''kommerkiarioi'' appear to be in control of larger territories, such as Cyprus or Chaldia, or operating in trade centers such as Cherson, Abydos, and Erythrai. Sometimes, the ''kommerkiarioi'' operated simultaneously in territories far removed from each other (such as Joseph who was '' abydikos'' and the ''kommerkiarios'' of Cephallenia and Thessalonica). Some ''kommerkiarioi'', such as the ''kommerkiarios'' of Preslav and the ''kommerkiarios'' of the Bulgarians, were trade inspectors in the northern Balkans. They held court titles, such as ''protospatharios'' of the Chrysotriklinos or ''mandator'', but could have specifically "commercial" positions such as ''metretes'' (Greek: μετρητής, "measurer"). A "''megas kommerkiarios'' of the West", titled ''spatharokandidatos'', appears on a seal dated to the second half of the 10th century.

The ''kommerkiarioi'' appeared in chrysobulls, at least until 1196, as collectors of ''kommerkion''. However, the author of the ''Life'' of Athanasios of Athos already identified a ''kommerkiarios'' as the Byzantine equivalent of '' praktor''.

References

Sources

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*{{cite book, last=Stephenson, first=Paul, title=Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204, location=Cambridge, publisher=Cambridge University Press, year=2000, isbn=0521770173 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaq90_BOvqIC

Byzantine fiscal offices
Customs officials
Taxation in the Byzantine Empire