The Roman Empire in the East, though often menaced by
barbarian foes, long continued to be the leading European power. Its highest
degree of prosperity was reached between the middle of the ninth and the middle
of the eleventh century. The provinces in Asia Minor and the Balkan peninsula
produced a vast annual revenue, much of which went for defense. It was
necessary to maintain a large, well-disciplined army, great fleets and engines
of war, and the extensive fortifications of Constantinople and the frontier
cities. Confronted by so many dangers, the empire could hope to survive only by
making itself a strong military state.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
The merchant ships of Constantinople, during the earlier
part of the Middle Ages, carried on most of the commerce of the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea. The products of Byzantine industry, including silks,
embroideries, mosaics, enamels, and metal work, were exchanged at that city for
the spices, drugs, and precious stones of the East. Byzantine wares also found
their way into Italy and France and, by way of the Russian rivers, reached the
heart of eastern Europe. Russia, in turn, furnished Constantinople with large
quantities of honey, wax, fur, wool, grain, and slaves. A traveler of the
twelfth century well described the city as a metropolis "common to all the
world, without distinction of country or religion."
