Administration and Economy

ohn's domestic policy was as successful as his foreign one. Upon his accession to the imperial throne, he transferred the capital of the Empire to Nymphaion; thus, only the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate remained in Nicaea. Following the successful expeditions of Vatatzes in Macedonia and Thrace as well as in the Aegean islands, new lands were annexed to the Empire and incorporated in the administrative system of the state. Although information concerning the administration of these territories is scant, it seems probable that their governors were assigned a wide range of responsibilities.

John III sought to fight abuses in the administration and made sure that justice was properly executed. However, the success of his domestic policy was mainly due to his financial and rural policies. Aiming to ensure the state's financial self-sufficiency, he made every effort to encourage local agriculture and animal husbandry and to reduce the importation - mostly from the West- of foreign luxury goods. He set an example himself, by offering his wife, Irene, a crown "of eggs" (the famous oaton ), bought with the proceeds of the sale of the first eggs from the imperial estate. The difficult position in which the neighbouring sultanate of Ikonion found itself as a result of the Mongol raids, forcing it to buy basic commodities from the Empire of Nicaea at high prices, contributed to a great extent to the success of the fiscal measures of John III. The result of these measures was an increrase in the population, in the economic prosperity of the urban centres, while a measure of stablity in the value of the currency was also achieved during Vatatzes' reign.