I'm just coming to the end of Jacques Lefort's chapter in the Economic History of Byzantium (which is available online from Dumbarton Oaks).

There's some fascinating analysis here of the detail and development of the rural economy of Byzantium. In particular around the trend for the countryside to change from a village commune organisation to a structure based more around large estates, and the interaction between this and economic development. Historically, the movement towards large estates has been seen as a retrograde step, leading to stagnation - and that this was part of the background to political collapse in the 11th. Century. What Lefort does is place the movement to large estates into the context of economic growth and expansion, a natural trend that fitted in a structure that was always a mixture of social organisation in the countryside. He also outlines how this was a rational decision for the peasants, and not necessarily one which involved impoverishment.

Overall then, a fascinating analysis, with lots of implications for the period that I find interesting - that is the transition to civilian rule in the 11th century followed by collapse and domination by the great families.