Byzantine units of measurement

[1] Official measurement and weighing was performed subject to an array of charges including the mestikon, miniatikon, zygastikon, kambaniatikon, gomariatikon, and samariatikon.

[2] Despite the central government's insistence on the use of official measures, other systems continued to be used in parallel, whether due to local traditions or foreign influences, or in order to cover the necessities of specific trades or crafts.

An 11th-century guide to Byzantine tax collection contains emendations concerning the Emperor Michael's[n 1] addition of a palm to the fathom used in computing the schoinion,[n 2] an act which reduced the holders' taxable area by about 5%.

[18] This has been reconstructed on the basis of known legislation of Constantine the Great in AD 309 establishing 72 gold solidi (Ancient Greek: νόμισμα, nómisma) to the pound.

[20] The glass weights had numerous advantages in manufacture and use[20] but seem to have disappeared following the loss of the empire's Syrian and Egyptian provinces in the 7th century.