“as soon as he seized power he was thinking about the expenses of the empire and for the amount of the salary of the army, since it was going to be occurred a lot of wars and in order the army to be victorious and to protect all the romans it was need of founds. for that reason he tried to collect money from those that they were rich and he heavily taxed those that they owed to the state…. for that reason has deprived from many citizens of their property without giving any notice of the existing chrysobulls (certificates of holdings without taxation) which are the main reason that creates tyrants.”
- michael attaliates, historia, 1080. he is a public servant who wrote the history of the byzantine empire and is writing about emperor isaac i
* "romans" refer to byzantine citizens
using the passage, what is a cause that led to the decline of the byzantine empire?
a) lack of advanced weaponry
b) lack of regulation of trade
c) rebellion of peasants due to increased taxes
d) internal disputes between the emperor and the elite