ABSTRACT
Enduring through millennia with considerable continuity, the Byzantine imperial government was a model of strength and stability. is government was both proactive and highly authoritative in respect to a few select matters, chiey collecting revenue, combating invasions and suppressing rebellion. Matters of local social interactions were generally beneath the notice of the imperial government. e imperial government, however, did take very seriously the task of maintaining its monopoly on governmental authority. Locally powerful people do not seem to have taken over governmental roles very often, because if they looked like they were governing, they ran the risk of being denounced as rebels. is situation of a strong imperial authority tightly maintaining a monopoly on governmental authority, yet neglecting the details of provincial government, meant that Byzantine provincial society was largely self-regulating.1
