by the
people, and every assistance was to be granted to the unfortunate
sufferers. This humane clause was not new in Byzantine commercial
treaties, for it is contained in the earliest treaty concluded by
Alexius I with the Pisans. On the whole, the arrangements for the
administration of justice in these treaties prove that the Byzantine
empire still enjoyed a greater degree of order than the rest of Europe.

The state of civilization in the Eastern Empire rendered the public
finances the moving power of the government, as in the nations of modern
Europe. This must always tend to the centralization of political
authority, for the highest branch of the executive will always endeavor
to dispose of the revenues of the State according to its views of
necessity. This centralizing policy led Manuel to order all the money
which the Greek commercial communities had hitherto devoted to
maintaining local squadrons of galleys for the defence of the islands
and coasts of the Aegean to be remitted to the treasury at
Constantinople. The ships were compelled to visit the imperial dockyard
in the capital to undergo repairs and to receive provisions and pay.

A navy is a most expensive establishment; kings, ministers, and people
are all very apt to think that when it is not wanted at any particular
time, the cost of its maintenance may be more profitably applied to
other objects. Manuel, after he had secured the funds of the Greeks for
his own treasury, soon left their ships to rot, and the commerce of
Greece became exposed to the attacks of small squadrons of Italian
pirates who previously would not have dared to plunder in the
Archipelago. It may be thought by some that Manuel acted wisely in
centralizing the naval administration of his empire; but the great
number, the small size, and the relative position of many of the Greek
islands with regard to the prevailing winds render the permanent
establishment of naval stations at several points necessary to prevent
piracy.

Manuel and Otho ruined the navy of Greece by their unwise measures of
centralization; Pericles, by prudently centralizing the maritime forces
of the various states, increased the naval power of Athens, and gave
additional security to every Greek ship that navigated the sea.

The same fiscal views which induced Manuel to centralize the naval
administration when it was injurious to the interests of the empire,
prompted him to act diametrically opposite with regard t