Lay Elites under Arab Rule

Abstract

This chapter makes the case that the seventh century did not see the immediate disappearance of the landowning elite in the Levant. It discusses how the melting away of the Roman state created opportunities for the aristocracy to enrich itself. It also refers to the tax structures of the new state that forced the aristocrats to find new avenues to power and influence, such as state administration or church hierarchy. The chapter uses letters and saints' lives to chart how many aristocracies benefited from the collapse of the Roman and Sasanian empires before the caliphs started to reassert their authority and demand higher taxes in the eighth century. It describes how non-Muslim, landed aristocrats persisted in many areas and Muslim patrons who protected the elites' interests.