Questions about Eastern Roman agriculture/economy

by joathrowaway

I'm trying to get a feel for how institutions changed during the rise of Islam, so let's say circa 600, but I'll take what I can get.

  1. Egypt is described as the breadbasket of the empire, and massive exports of grain from Egypt to the capital are referenced. Was this grain bought/traded for, sent as payment on a tax, produced on imperial estates or what?
  2. I'm an imaginary "typical" farmer near Alexandria. Who owns the land I farm? Am I share cropper, wage laborer, serf, or slave?
  3. I'm a merchant in Alexandria. Do I pay taxes? What kind of taxes (poll tax, tax on land ownership, tariffs)? If I have a contract dispute, how would I go about taking it to court?
mpsellus

Short answer to your first question - the city of Rome got its grain provisions from Egypt through an annual tax, levied on the harvest, known as the annonae. From the 4th century on, Constantinople was also provisioned the same way. With the Islamic conquest of Egypt, Constantinople switched to Thrace and Bithynia for its grain supply.