The Byzantine Empire

When Constantinople was expanded by Constantine's successors, the graveyards which had lain outside the walls had to be incorporated into the city. So the burial of the dead now became a necessary religious ceremony and required cemeteries to accommodate the deceased. It suggests that between 300,000 and 350,000 soldiers were employed by the Byzantines in the 6th century. The army was by far the largest consumer of the empire's revenues, somewhere between half and three quarters of expenditure. In addition to their wages, the soldiers also received cash bonuses on the accession of a new emperor, and on every fifth anniversary of his reign.