Anthony Kaldellis
Historian of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire at the University of Chicago and author of "The New Roman Empire"
Anthony Kaldellis (Historian of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire at the University of Chicago and author of "The New Roman Empire") has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Byzantine Empire, Taxation in the Byzantine Empire, Christianity.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Byzantine Empire6 of 10
Kaldellis explains the empire's cohesion by the authorities' effort to persuade subjects they ruled on their behalf, combined with a unified Roman and Orthodox identity.
“First is that an extraordinary effort was made by the authorities to persuade their subjects that they were ruling on their behalf”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:36:23
Kaldellis notes that apart from Bulgaria, there were no separatist movements among Roman provincials, which he cites as evidence the empire could have lasted far longer absent invasions.
“But for the rest of the 1,200 years, you don't find provincials wanting to leave this system”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:32:44
Kaldellis dates the empire's point of no return to the first half of the 14th century, after the loss of Asia Minor, civil wars, Serbian expansion and the Black Death.
“I would say early 14th century, somewhere between 1300 and 1350. the sources of resilience begin to dry up”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:28:58
Kaldellis argues the empire should be defined by its long internally driven recoveries rather than its brief externally caused crises.
“So I see this as a society whose internal organization primes it to stabilize and embark on steady growth”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:21:52
Kaldellis attributes the 11th-century crisis mainly to simultaneous attacks by Normans, Pechenegs and Seljuk Turks rather than internal moral decay.
“But no state can medieval or ancient can realistically survive. The simultaneous attack of three very different kinds of enemies”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:17:59
Kaldellis criticizes Justinian's western conquests for stripping the East of armies, allowing the Persians to destroy Antioch.
“I don't think you get a pass for conquering North Africa by surrendering Syria”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 2:49:27
Other remarks
Kaldellis contends that much of the world does not believe the stated goals of American leaders regarding war, citing claims that the Afghanistan invasion was a feminist war.
“I don't think most of the world even believes, you know, what American leaders say their goals are, especially when it comes to like war”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:44:27
Kaldellis draws the lesson that ruling elites benefit from investing in long-lasting institutions that serve the majority and explaining their costs to people.
“investing in institutions that work for the majority of your subjects, even if indirectly, like they have to pay a cost for them”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:41:27
Taxation in the Byzantine Empire
Kaldellis rejects the scholarly notion of isolated rural communities cut off from the state, arguing census, taxes, church and coinage enmeshed everyone.
“These people do not exist, these isolated peasants. This is a myth that one day I'm going to write a chapter about this”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 2:24:06
Kaldellis identifies taxation as the single most important factor at the heart of the Roman state.
“If you asked me to put my finger on one factor, it would be that”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:20
Christianity
Kaldellis says no convincing political explanation exists for Constantine's conversion, leaving personal belief as the most likely reason.
“I have not yet seen a convincing like political argument for Constantine's decision”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:25
Kaldellis argues that the Roman imperial system co-opted Christianity rather than Christianity triumphing over Rome.
“I would lean more toward the second. In other words, that the religion was co-opted by the imperial system”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:34:57
Byzantine Iconoclasm
Kaldellis argues the Iconoclasm controversy was socially overblown, mattering intensely only to a small elite who wrote the surviving sources.
“So in my view, this is one of those controversies that only a few people really, really cared about it”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:12:45
Plague of Justinian
Kaldellis rejects estimates that the Plague of Justinian killed half the population, noting that wars, taxation and courts continued without pause.
“And some scholars argue for a kind of maximalist position of 50%. I think that would have brought this society to a halt, just logistically speaking”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 2:52:00
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Kaldellis explains the fall of the West as a vicious cycle in which barbarian armies seized provinces, depriving the state of taxes needed to field armies.
“This created this kind of vicious cycle because then the Roman state lost access to the resources from those provinces, that is the taxes”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 2:05:06
Constantinople
Kaldellis ranks Constantine as the top emperor because his decisions, such as founding Constantinople and converting to Christianity, were world-historically consequential.
“The reason I put Constantine at the top of the list is because the decisions that he made were so consequential, just important”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:32:25
Constitutio Antoniniana
Kaldellis argues the Edict of Caracalla was significant because the Romans genuinely implemented universal citizenship, opening top positions to provincials.
“not only did they extend citizenship to everybody, but they meant it. This is something that had teeth”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires (Jun 30, 2026) · Listen from 57:21
Appearances
#498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of EmpiresLex Fridman Podcast · Jun 30, 2026 · 3 h 59 min
Historian Anthony Kaldellis and Lex Fridman trace 2,200 years of Roman history, arguing the Byzantine Empire was simply the Roman Empire and explaining its longevity.
Often appears with
- Lex Fridman · 1 shared episode