Chrysargyron

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In the Byzantine Empire, chrysargyron, also called chrysargyrum or collatio lustralis, was an unpopular tax levied every four years, on people of all stations, rich and poor, slaves and freemen; even on animals and pets. It was collected during the first hundred and seventy years of the Eastern Roman Empire. The term originated from the Greek words for gold (χρυσος) and silver (αργυρος), which initially were the required forms of payment.

According to the Byzantine writer Zosimus, Constantine first initiated this tax, perhaps as early as 325, though there are some indications that such a tax existed during the reign of Caligula (see Suetonius Lives of the Twelve Caesars). Also there are hints that the tax existed during the rule of Severus Alexander (see Augustan History). The ecclesiastical historian Evagrius says that Constantine found the tax already established in the Eastern Empire, and considered abolishing it.

The chrysargyron was originally paid in gold and silver every five years. By 370, the tax was only payable in gold. Early in the 400s, the tax had to be paid every four years. In some areas it was collected by indiction year, every month. Each city chose individuals to collect the taxes from the community, which were then paid into the sacrae largitiones.

Libanius, Zosimus, and Evagrius list examples of the hardships caused by this tax, probably because it was collected in one lump sum every four years. Parents were forced to sell their children into slavery or prostitution to meet the required levy.

The tax was abolished by Anastasius I throughout the Byzantine Empire in the year 498. In the Italian peninsula, then ruled by the Ostrogoths, the tax was continued for some years, until they were conquered by Belisarius. According to Joshua the Stylite, when the tax was ended, the city of Edessa, Mesopotamia, no longer had to pay 140 pounds of gold every 4 years (2,520 solidi annually), and they celebrated with a week of festivities.

The Emperor Anastasius compensated for this lost revenue by placing income earned from certain estates into a separate fund.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
• The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-605-4. 2001. p 184.
• G. E. M. De Ste Croix. The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9597-0. 1989.