An Ethnographic Survey of Rhōmanía in 1330: Part Three
Syria: The generic term “Syria” covers roughly from Damaskos in the south to the Tauros, and encompasses the ancient region of Kilikia.
The rule of Rhōmanía in this province has been established now, on and off, for the better part of four centuries, and it has led to substantial settlement of Romaic speakers, especially around the provincial capital at Antiokheia. In Kilikia, the descendants of Armenians settled in the tenth century now generally speak Romaic, but many of them continue to hold to their anti-Chalcedonian Church. In Syria, “Armenian” is therefore largely a religious term used to denote those whose cultural profile is otherwise very similar to those Romans of the core provinces.
Muslims are, as in Sikelia, only a small minority, barely tolerated by the imperial authorities. Harassment of Islamic communities along the Euphrates frontier in particular reached near genocidal levels when imperial rule was re-established in the 1280s and 1290s, with Muslims being driven into newly Islamised Jušen Iran, lest they act as fifth columnists on the frontier. The largest remaining Islamic communities in Syria are now clustered along the coastline and in the hills, where they comprise perhaps a fifth of the population. In Syria (interestingly, unlike in Sikelia), Muslims are forced to pay a poll tax and are not, unlike Jews, seen as Roman citizens.
Nonetheless, Syria remains dominated by Arabic speakers- though these are Christians. The dominant group – politically, if not numerically - are Uniate followers of Chalcedon, and call themselves
Malak-ī in their own language: the authorities know them as “Moulakhosyrioi”. Under any title, they have become the dominant administrative class across the reconquered East, and are prized for their bilingualism. The other group are the anti-Chalcedonian “Iakoboi”. Unlike their Armenian co-religionists, the anti-Chalcedonians of Syria are sometimes harassed by the authorities, as they do not provide substantial numbers of troops to serve in the
Tagmata. Since the reimposition of the rule of Rhōmanía in Syria, a slow trickle of conversion to the Uniate Church has been observed.
Palaistine: The profile of Palaistine is broadly similar to that of Syria, with one notable exception- this is the only imperial province with a thriving Islamic population.
The Muslims of Palaistine are tolerated largely due to Rhōmanía’s need to establish friendly relations with the tribes of the Arabian deserts who precariously control the Holy Places- a strategic objective has developed to keep Jušen Iran out of the Erythraian Sea. Indeed, Muslims harassed out of Syria and Egypt are partly encouraged to settle in Palaistine, where, in some circumstances, even citizenship is permitted to local community leaders. It is therefore in Palaistine that the first translation of the
Qur'an into Romaic has taken place.
Aigyptos: By far the richest, most populous- and most troublesome of the restored territories of the East. Aigyptos is governed by a
Katepánō with a permanent detachment of some 20,000 troops, to keep down a restive local population. Since imperial rule was reimposed following the collapse of the Jušen state into civil war in 1282, the province has seen major revolts in 1284 and most seriously in 1295, in addition to disturbances in 1302, 1308, 1315 and 1319.
The authorities have attempted several innovative methods to keep the Nile Valley and its harvest under control- the most notable of which has been the division up of land-lots along the river amongst “Boulgarokleroukhoi”. These estates, largely given in compensation to the former ruling class of conquered Boulgaria, have seen the establishment of a new ruling class in Aigyptos- once very distinct from the subject population, and broadly loyal to Rhōmanía. The military authorities can play divide-and-rule with their new subjects and their masters- where a Boulgarian landlord is violently exploiting his tenants, they can step in as “saviours”. The result has seen, in 1330, a decade of calm in Aigyptos for the first time in the half-century of restored imperial rule, and for the first time significant military recruitment and the beginnings of the adoption of Romaic as a common language between Sklavenic overlords and Coptic and Arabic subjects.
The restive nature of the province also leads to other administrative changes. The local anti-Chalcedonian church is empowered to run mostly legal and low level administrative matters, with the office of the
Katepánō only directly interested in ensuring a portion of the grain harvest is exported to the Aegean. Taxation is very light in Aigyptos compared to the core provinces, but the region’s innate prosperity allows it to still make a substantial contribution to the coffers of Rhōmanía.