War Coins. The Military Budget of the East Roman Empire in the Sixth Century

In the sixth century, East Roman emperors were predominantly depicted on coinage adorned in a cuirass and a military mantel, an iconographic choice that was not unexpected, given the substantial quantity of coins that was allocated for the remuneration of troops or military-related expenditures. Indeed, defence spending featured prominently in the economy of the East Roman Empire, especially after Justinian's wars and the conquest of Italy and Northern Africa, which forced Constantinople to garrison further provinces. Under Anastasius, the annual salary of a common soldier was approximately 20 solidi. Given that the early sixth-century army consisted of approximately 100,000 full-time soldiers, the military budget was estimated to be at least 2 million solidi, though this figure does not take into account the higher remuneration for officers and the significant expenses incurred in areas such as foederati, food, weaponry, military camps, fortresses and shipbuilding. Furthermore, the limitanei also received remuneration, at least until the reign of Justinian, and likely beyond. The total fiscal income of the Empire was approximately five to six million solidi, thus it can be deduced that the military budget absorbed the majority of the taxes paid by Constantinople's subjects. By relying on contemporary epigraphic, papyrological, numismatic and textual evidence, this paper analyses the costs of maintaining the sixth-century East Roman army in times of peace, and the financial resources invested in campaigns such as Justinian's reconquest of Africa and Maurice's expeditions against the Avars. In a historical period where the rearming of Europe, and the procurement of the necessary financial resources, has become a priority, it is of some consequence to study how much the East Roman Empire was actually willing and able to invest in defence spending.