64 ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
Dyrrachium and from Crete to Anchialos. Some of these
ports were the natural outlets of vast inland territories.
Thus, Trebizond and Salonica were the ports not only of
Persia and the centre of the Balkan peninsula respectively,
but also of the hinterland of those regions.1 Cherson, a sort
of colonial possession, occupied for Russia a similar position.2
But indisputably the greatest trade centre was Constanti-
nople, with its unique situation and its incomparable harbour.
In the course of centuries man had completed the work
of nature. We have already seen that for a long time Byzan-
tium monopolized the trade in articles de luxe^ so important
in an age in which international trade relied for its customers
to a great extent upon churches, royal palaces, and seigneu-
rial castles; it may also be remarked that some agricultural
products, such as certain wines and dried fruits, were much
sought after, even by the barbarians.3 We shall see, in the
chapter on public finances, that at least down to the eleventh
century the Emperors maintained the intrinsic value of their
gold coinage, whence the nomisma or besant became a truly
international coin and supplied the Empire with an indis-
pensable instrument for drawing to itself the trade between
the various nations. In the same chapter we shall speak of
the great public edifices, where merchandise was stored;
these bazaars or caravanseries were to be found in fortified
cities, which afforded protection against invaders and pirates
and thus furnished commerce with that security which is
as necessary to it as a sound currency.
One must also remember that, beside the efficacious
measures taken at various times against piracy, the Byzan-
tines possessed a large mercantile fleet. Down to the
Mussulman era this fleet was mistress of the seas; after
centuries of reverses, it succeeded in developing a new
prosperity, and its decadence did not really set in until the
1 'Trebizond became the great port of the East.* S. Runciman, ttyxantine
Civilisation (London, Arnold, 1933), p. 167.
2 Direct relations between Constantinople and Russia do not date further back
than the ninth century.
3 Thus the Russians brought their furs, honey, wax, and slaves, and received in
exchange articles of the goldsmith's art, silk fabrics, wine, and fruits. Cf. A. Vasiliev,
'Economic Relations between Byzantium and Old Russia*, Journal of Economic
History, vol. iv (1932), pp. 314-34.