Editing Exploring the Halls of Arden Vul: Institutions (section)

==Archontean Bureaucracy==
The vast imperial bureaucracy is divided into three main branches, the House of Coins, the House of Sight, and the Private House. Each branch is led by a thesmothete living in Archontos, who consults regularly with the basileus about decisions affecting the empire. In each imperial theme or exarchate, the chief bureaucrat for each branch of the administration is a logothete, who administers a small army of chartoularii, enforcers, guards, and so forth. Service in the bureaucracy is common for middle- and upper-class citizens.

===House of Coins===
Perhaps the most hated of the three branches of imperial government, the administrators of the House of Coins are responsible for all direct and indirect public taxation, and for operating the five imperial mints. In addition to being responsible for paying 10% of their annual income to the officials of the House of Coins, citizens are liable to a bevy of other taxes, including tolls, usage fees, extraordinary ‘aids’, and so forth. In Narsileon the current logothete of the House of Coins is Lord Alexandros Junienos.

===House of Sight===
The smallest of the three official branches of government, the House of Sight is concerned with the road system, with postal service, and with diplomacy. While formally a subsidiary office within the House of Sight, the Drome is in practice a separate bureau, with its own logothete who acts with full independence. In Narsileon, the current logothete of the House of Sight is Lord Rebecca Xenarcheon.

====The Drome====
Technically a bureau housed within the House of Sight, the Drome is the name of the imperial secret police. So important is the Drome that its facilities are usually distinct from – and much larger than – those of the House of Sight; indeed, the Drome operates as an utterly distinct agency, and its regional leaders are given the title of logothete (a title equal to their putative supervisors in the House of Sight). Special agents of the Drome are known colloquially as the Black Lotus, and are greatly feared. 

===The Private House===
The bureaucrats of the private house are responsible for administering all property and financial rights held directly by the imperial family. These duties include managing the emperor’s personal estates, collecting revenues due from tenants on those lands, ensuring that tolls and other exactions held directly by the emperor are paid promptly and in full, and so forth.

Although its scope might seem the narrowest of the three branches of government, the Private House is, in fact, the largest of the three branches, with numerous chartoularii serving in regional offices of the Private House all over the empire. In Narsileon, the current logothete of the Private House is Lord Georgios Hellakreon, called ‘Half-Hand’ for obscure reasons.