The book The Byzantine Economy has its chapters separated based on the era that it is covering. In one chapter the book goes into how the Byzantine economy was flourishing compared to the Western Roman Empire, which was in a state of dissolution and deurbanization.
The Eastern Roman Empire was doing so well that it could rely on paying off the roaming bands of barbarians so they would not ravage their lands. This tactic was not available to their counterparts in the West where authority was getting weaker as each series of emperors proved to be unable to stem the tide.
Rural populations also flourished in the eastern empire, with the population increasing. Agriculture still the base of the economy. Places such as Anatolia were well developed regions and contributed much to the economy. There was also a healthy increase in the population of major cities. Constantinople, the capital of the empire, had around 400,000 people during the early reign of Justinian. Antioch, a major city in the east, had around 200,000.
Building activity was also increasing in this age of growth and expansion in the economy. It was not at the level of the Roman Empire but there was more building activity occurring in the 5th and 6th centuries than would be occurring later on, especially with Sassinids and Arab invasions. The wealth of the empire allowed for the construction of important monuments, like the Hagia Sophia.
In this period we also see the rise of a productive urban economy, dispelling the idea that cities in this period were only consumer cities that were leeching the resources of the countryside. We see urban craftsmen become active in the economy and a variety of trades can be found in the cities. It is also in this period that we see the introduction of silkworms and the creation of a thriving silk industry in the empire.
The state in the Eastern Roman Empire was more established than in the West, which allowed for it to be more efficient at tax collection and distributing the annona which was the grain dole given to the citizens of Constantinople and other cities. The grain supply required some 500 ships each year to make the journey. This trade was highly regulated by the government. Other types of trade flourished in the empire, most of it being by sea, as land transport was generally slower and more expensive.
The Eastern Roman Empire by all measures had a much stronger economy than that of the Western empire. It seemed that it had managed to weather the storm that had taken down the Western empire. However, things were going to change in the middle of the 6th century.
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