ABSTRACT
For the attempt to trace the portrait of the merchant active in Byzantine Greece, the paucity of the sources constitutes a major problem. However, even during the so-called ‘Dark’ centuries there is some evidence about tradesmen active in overseas trade between the Peloponnese and Constantinople, the Italian peninsula, Asia Minor, and the coast of Syria. Itinerant merchants co-existed with permanently established artisan-merchants and with persons assuming temporarily the role of trader. Although the state seems to have had a pivotal role in commercial relations, especially in the early period, there was considerable space left for individuals. Taxation was tightly associated with trade, the kommerkiarioi often assuming the role of the merchant, either on their own or the state's account. In the 11th–12th centuries the number of merchants active in Greece increased dramatically due to economic expansion and the progressive opening of the economy to foreigners who invested in commodities such as olive oil and silks. Merchants became wealthier and more influential and sometimes protested against the civil authorities. A question raised here is that of the organisation of these merchants. Although it is improbable that there were structures analogous to those described in the Book of the Eparch, the merchants were organised to some extent on their own initiative. But that had nothing to do with guilds as we know them from the medieval West.
