What Anthony Kaldellis has said about Taxation in the Byzantine Empire
2 quotes · 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 Taxation in the Byzantine Empire 2 times 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 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
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
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
- Byzantine Iconoclasm · 1 quote
- Plague of Justinian · 1 quote
- Fall of the Western Roman Empire · 1 quote
- Constantinople · 1 quote
- Constitutio Antoniniana · 1 quote