The novelty of the constitutions in the Codex Theodosianus within the overall context has often unconsciously led historians to believe that the procedures of government and administration attested from the age of Constantine onwards were always genuine fourth century innovations. According to a widely accepted reconstruction of the procedures of government and administration between the Augustan and Constantinian ages, the emperor Theodosius II management of the empire was characterized, on the one hand, by a substantial lack of initiative; on the other, by frenetic activism and personal commitment in the response to appeals from his subjects. While the second-century empire was perhaps less randomly governed and more 'bureaucratic' than is generally thought, its late antique counterpart was surely much less bureaucratized than is suggested by a deeply rooted tradition of studies. The age running from Severus to Constantine was an age of both fracture and continuity.

In 992 Basil II encouraged their activities by reducing the tolls on their ships paid for passage through the Hellespont to Constantinople. The effect was to favour Constantinople's role as the clearing house of Mediterranean trade. It underlined Constantinople's position as the cross-roads of the medieval world. This brought the Byzantine empire great opportunities. In the twenty-five years following Basil II's death the Byzantine empire had lost direction and momentum. The changing political conditions along the Byzantine frontiers would have alerted the imperial government to one of the disadvantages of the military expansionism espoused by Basil II. Constantine Monomachos's reign was pivotal. Education was at the heart of Constantine Monomachos's reforms. By 1095 Alexios had pacified the Balkans, brought peace to the church and restored sound government. Antioch was vital to Alexios' plans for the recovery of Anatolia from the Turks.

The western or Latin conquest of Constantinople on 13 April 1204 heralded a new era in the history of the Byzantine lands, known in the west as Romania. The internal structure and development of the Latin empire was rather complex. The principality of Morea, the third major Frankish state of Latin Romania, survived the Latin empire by some 170 years. The establishment of Latin rule over extensive portions of Romania opened the way to western immigration and settlement in the territories on a scale much larger than before 1204. The breakdown of imperial government in the years immediately preceding and particularly those following the fall of Constantinople the archontes in many areas of Romania exercised effective rule over the local population. One of the most important economic effects of the Latin conquest of Constantinople was the opening of the Black Sea to unrestricted western commerce.

This chapter discusses the management of the imperial finances and the imperial coinage and its production. The collection of imperial indirect taxes continued in the early Principate as in the Republic to be farmed out to publicani. The relative value to the imperial government of indirect as against direct taxes is impossible to assess, but they were probably crucial to the imperial finances. The imperial patrimonium passed from emperor to emperor as part of the office rather than through normal inheritance, as is patent in the cases of the emperors from Otho to Vespasian but was perhaps first recognized on Gaius' accession, whereas no consul, for example, inherited his predecessor's personal fortune. The stability of Roman taxation at a level which was low for each community as a whole is often used to help explain the acceptance and support of Roman rule by the upper classes of the provinces.

This chapter assesses in what ways the practical operation of imperial government varied during the Later Han or how it was affected by the turmoil of factional strife. There are signs that during the second half of the first century AD and even earlier, the administration of the restored Han government had been oppressive and over-rigorous. Chang-ti's reign saw a distinct improvement in internal communications in the southern part of the empire. At the beginning of the Yung-ch'u period, a succession of droughts and floods had created distress in a number of areas. P'ang Ts'an's suggestion was opposed by Yii Hsu, who was serving as a gentleman of the palace on the staff of Li Hsiu, the supreme commander. In 126 Yu Hsu, who had just been appointed colonel, internal security, raised the cry that the government had been oppressive.

The system of imperial government evolved during the Ch'in and Han periods was marked by the division of responsibilities, the duplication of some offices, and the organization of civil servants into hierarchies. The principal method of recruiting civil servants was by the recommendation of provincial officials or of senior ministers in the central government. The academy flourished in Later Han, admitting foreigners as well as Chinese. The importance of the secretariat was recognized as early as 46 BC in a telling remark made by the statesman Hsiao Wang-chih. The great majority of the inhabitants of the Ch'in and Han empires lived on the land in villages. Major decisions of state policy depended theoretically on the choice and authority of the emperor, or on that of the empress dowager The government of Ch'in and Han rested on principles enunciated by Shang Yang and Han Fei: that meritorious service must be encouraged by rewards, and infringement of the law must be punished.