What Anthony Kaldellis has said about Fall of the Western Roman Empire
1 quote · 1 episode · Jun 30, 2026
Anthony Kaldellis, Historian of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire at the University of Chicago and author of "The New Roman Empire", has been quoted on Fall of the Western Roman Empire once in 1 episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, most recently on June 30, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
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
Episodes
#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.
Anthony Kaldellis on other topics
- Byzantine Empire · 10 quotes
- Christianity · 2 quotes
- Taxation in the Byzantine Empire · 2 quotes
- Byzantine Iconoclasm · 1 quote
- Plague of Justinian · 1 quote
- Constantinople · 1 quote
- Constitutio Antoniniana · 1 quote