Anastasius I inherited a treasury nearly emptied by his predecessor Zeno and responded with one of the most consequential fiscal overhauls in Byzantine history — abolishing the hated chrysargyron, a tax on tradespeople collected every four years, in 498. His reign's silver output reflects a stabilized monetary system, not a government scrambling to produce coin. The miliarense itself was a denomination with an awkward role by this period, too valuable for everyday transactions and increasingly displaced by the follis reform of 498 on the bronze end.
Anastasius I inherited a treasury nearly emptied by his predecessor Zeno and responded with one of the most consequential fiscal overhauls in Byzantine history — abolishing the hated chrysargyron, a tax on tradespeople collected every four years, in 498. His reign's silver output reflects a stabilized monetary system, not a government scrambling to produce coin. The miliarense itself was a denomination with an awkward role by this period, too valuable for everyday transactions and increasingly displaced by the follis reform of 498 on the bronze end.