Notaries in the Byzantine Services Market, 4th to 9th Centuries
Abstract
The issue of differentiation and specialization within the Byzantine notariat, particularly its integration into the service market, remains an understudied area. This article examines categories of private legal acts, focusing on the most common among them - sale contracts - as well as the clerks responsible for their drafting, the locations where documents were formalized, and the organization of notarial offices. Notaries operating in the market sphere were referred to by various titles (with slight differences in specialization): notarius, semiographos, nomikos, ypographeus, tachygraphos, taboullarios, symbolographos, tabellion, grammateis, and kankellarios. Narrative and legislative sources allow for the identification of their classification requirements, including property and age qualifications, legal status (free or semi-free), functions, document-drafting procedures, and the intensity of their work. Using quantitative methods, it has been calculated that to achieve a monthly income of approximately 30 gold nomismata, a notary would need to draft at least 60 written acts with a minimum fee of 12 keratia per act or around 10–15 documents with fees of 2–3 nomismata each. The intensity of notarial work appears consistent with the level of economic activity in early medieval Byzantium and its economy. On average, during the 20 working days per month (excluding Sundays and holidays), a single notarial office handled no more than two to three agreements or contracts daily. Even in populous Constantinople by the late 9th century, 24 notarial offices sufficed to meet demand, collectively serving 50–70 significant clients daily during workdays. Most Byzantines engaged with notarial services relatively infrequently, primarily for transactions exceeding the value of one litra of gold. Nevertheless, the annual total amounts to an impressive figure: approximately 15,000–20,000 notarized documents produced by Constantinopolitan offices alone, excluding provincial notarial activity.
Downloads
References
Actes de Lavra. Archives de l’Athos / Publ. par G. Roaillard, P. Collomp. Paris, 1970. Т. 1. 447 p.
Alekseenko N. A. Novye sfragisticheskie nahodki v okruge vizantijskogo Chersona (k voprosu ob adresatah korrespondencii). CHERSONOS THEMATA: imperija i «polis». Materialy VIII Mezhdunarodnogo Vizantijskogo seminara. Sevastopol', 2015. S. 19-20. (In Russian)
Anastasii Sinaitae Opera Omnia. Patrologiae graeca. Paris, 1860. T. 89. Col. 35-1189.
Basilicorum libri LX / Ed. C. G. E. Heimbach, G. E. Heimbach. Lipsiae: Jah. Ambrasius Barth, 1833. T. 1 (Lib. I-XII). XXXVII, 690 p.; 1840. T. 2 (Lib. XIII-XXIII). XVI, 782 p.; 1843. T. 3 (Lib. XXIV-XXXVIII). VI, 518 p.; 1846. T. 4 (Lib. XXXIX-XLVIII). VIII, 794 p.
Beati Ioannis Eucratae liber qui inscribitur Pratum quod floridaam proferat vitarum narrationem coelestis roseti. Patrologiae graeca. Turnholti: Brepols, 1976. T. 87 C. Col. 2845-3116.
Beck H.-G. Konstantinopel. Zur Socialgeschichte einer frühmitelalterlichen Stadt. Byzantinische Zeitchrift. 1965. Bd. 58. Hf. 1. S. 11-45.
Borodin O. R. Ravennskij jekzarhat. Vizantijcy v Italii. Sankt-Peterburg: Aletejja, 2001. 474 s. (In Russian)
Borodin O. R. Vizantijskaja Italija v VI–VIII vekah (Ravennskij jekzarhat i Pentapol'). Barnaul: Den', 1991. 366 s. (In Russian)
Bratianu G. I. Privileges et franchises municipales dans l’empire byzantin. Paris: Geuthner; Bucarest: Cultura nationala, 1936. 138 p., 1 l. ill.
Brunner H. Zur Rechtsgeschichte der römischen und germanischen Urkunde. Berlin, 1880. Bd. 1. 387 S.
Burgmann L. Die Novellen der Kaiserin Eirene. Fontes Minores. Frankfurt am Main, 1981. Vol. 4. P. 16–31.
Constantini Porphyrogeniti imperatoris De ceremoniis aulae byzantinae libri duo graece et latine, e rec. Io. Iac. Reiskii. Bonnae: E. Weber, 1829. Vol. 1. 807 p.
Corpus juris civilis. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1895. Vol. 2: Codex Iustinianus / Rec. P. Krueger. 513 p.
Corpus juris civilis. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1904. Vol. 3: Novellae / Rec. R. Schoell. Opus Schoellii morte interseptum absolvit G. Kroll. 813 p.
Corpus juris civilis. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1908. Vol. 1: Digesta / Rec. Th. Mommsen, retractavit P. Krueger. Ed. stereotypa undecima. P. 1–959.
Dölger F. Byzantinische Diplomatik. 20 Aufsätze zum Urkundenwesen der Byzantiner. Speyer an Rhein: Buch-Kunst-verl., Ettal, 1956. 419 S.
Ecloga: Das Gesetzbuch Leons III und Konstantinos V / Hrsg. v. L. Burgmann. Frankfurt a M.: Löwenklau-Ges., 1983. XVII, 282 S.
Epanagoge (corrigendum: Eisagogen) Basilii, Leonis et Alexandri / Ed. C. E. Zachariae a Lingenthal. Lipsiae: Teubner, 1892. XVIII, 324 p.
Franzius E. History of the Byzantine Empire. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1967. XV, 487 p.
Kurbatov G. L. Osnovnye problemy vnutrennego razvitija vizantijskogo goroda v IV–VII vv. Leningrad: LGU, 1971. 220 s. (In Russian)
Les Novelles de Leon VI le Sage. Texte et traduction publies par P. Noailles et A. Dain. Paris: Les Belles lettres, 1944. LXIII, 384 p.
Ljapidevskij N. Istorija notariata. M., 1875. T. 1. 468 s. (In Russian)
Medvedev I. P. Diplomatika chastnogo vizantijskogo akta. Problemy istochnikovedenija zapadnoevropejskogo srednevekov'ja. Leningrad.: Nauka, 1979. S. 124–147. (In Russian)
Medvedev I. P. Ocherki vizantijskoj diplomatiki (chastnopravovoj akt). Leningrad.: Nauka, 1988. 263 s. (In Russian)
Panchenko B. A. Katalog molivdovulov Russkogo arheologicheskogo instituta v Konstantinopole. Izvestija Russkogo arheologicheskogo instituta v Konstantinopole. 1904. T. 9. Vyp. 3. S. 341–396. (In Russian)
Peira. Practica ex actis Eustathii Romani. Ius graeco-romana / Ed. C. E. Zachariae a. Lingenthal. Lipsiae: Teubner, 1856. T. 1. XII, 386 p.
Procopii Caesariensis Opera omnia / Rec. J. Haury, G. Wirth. Lipsiae: D. G. Teubner, 1964. Vol. 4: Peri Ktismaton libri VI sive de aedificiis. XII, 409 p.
Saradi-Mendelovici H. La ratification des actes prives byzantines par une autorite civile au ecclesiastique. Revue des etudes byzantines. 1988. T. 46. P. 167–180.
Saradi-Mendelovici H. L’enregistrement des actes prives (insinuatio) et la disparition des institutions municipales au VIe siecle. Cahiers des etudes anciennes: Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres. Montreal, 1989. T. 21. P. 117–130.
Saradi-Mendelovici H. Le notariat byzantin du IXe au XVe siecle. Athenes: Universite Nationale d’Athenes, faculte des lettres, 1991. 312 p.
Schmink A. «Novellae extravagantes» Leonos VI. Subsciva Groningana. Groningen, 1990. T. 4. P. 195–209.
Sokolova I. V. Vizantijskie pechati VI — pervoj poloviny IX v. iz Hersona. Vizantijskij vremennik. 1991. T. 52. S. 201–213. (In Russian)
Sorochan S. B. Vizantija IV–IX vekov: jetjudy rynka. Struktura mehanizmov obmena. Har'kov: Biznes Inform, 1998. 452 s. (In Russian)
Stöckle A. Spätrömische und byzantinische Zünfte. Leipzig: Dieterichsche Verl., 1911. X, 180 S.
Theodosiani libri XVI constitutionibus sirmondianis et leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinents / Rec. Th. Mommsen, P. M. Meyer. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1905. Vol. 1. P. 1. CCCLXXX p.; Vol. 1. P. 2. 931 p.
Tjäder J.-O. Die nichtliterarischen Latenischen Papyri. Italiens aus der Zeit 445-700. Lund, 1955. Bd. 1. 423 S.
Troianos N. Peri tou egklematos tes plastographias en to byzantino dikaio. Epeteris Etaireias Byzantinon Spoudon. 1972–1973. T. 39–40. S. 181–200.
Uspenskij F. I. Vizantijskaja tabel' o rangah. Izvestija Russkogo arheologicheskogo instituta v Kostantinopole. 1898. T. 3. S. 98–137. (In Russian)
Vizantijskaja kniga Eparha / Vstup. st., per., komm. M. Ja. Sjuzjumova. Moskva: Izd-vo vost. lit-ry, 1962. 295 s. (In Russian)
Vogt A. Basile I-er, empereur de Byzance, et la civilisation byzantine a la fin du IXe siècle. Paris: Libr. A. Picard et fils, 1908. XXXII, 445 p.
Copyright (c) 2025 Serhii Sorochan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
