Podbit · Lex Fridman Podcast

#498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Rise & Fall of Empires

Explore episode Jun 30, 2026

History

Justinian: The Emperor Who Did Everything — For Better and Worse

#498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, R… · Jun 30, 2026 History

Justinian started as a Latin-speaking peasant from the Balkans and ended as the emperor whose decisions still govern Western legal systems today. He codified all of Roman law into the Corpus Iuris Civilis, built Hagia Sophia, and reconquered North Africa and Italy — while also ordering the massacre of 30,000 protesters, devastating Syria by stripping its defenses for his western campaigns, and leaving his successors an overextended empire vulnerable to Arab conquest.

Where this was said

Emperor Justinian and wars of conquest

At 2:39:45 · chapter starts 2:37:17

Kaldellis describes Justinian as one of history's most ambiguous rulers. Born into poverty in the western Balkans with no known early career, he rose through his uncle Justin I's patronage and then married Theodora — a former sex worker — because he genuinely loved her and had the law changed to allow it. His eye for talent regardless of social class extended to his general Narses, his jurist Tribonian who compiled the Corpus Iuris Civilis, and Theodora herself. The Corpus Iuris Civilis remains the foundation of most European legal systems today. Hagia Sophia is one of the most magnificent buildings in human history^{[1]

— Anthony Kaldellis

"Justinian started as a Latin-speaking peasant from the Balkans and ended as the emperor whose decisions still govern Western legal systems …"

2:39:45}. But Justinian also ordered the slaughter of more than 30,000 people during the Nika Insurrection — the most dramatic instance of an Eastern Roman emperor using the army against civilians. His western wars of reconquest overextended the empire's resources, stripped eastern defenses (allowing Persia to sack Antioch), and left a dangerously precarious situation for his successors. The Plague of Justinian (541 AD, now confirmed as Yersinia pestis) struck during this period, though Kaldellis is skeptical of maximalist claims that it killed 50% of the population. The wars continued without interruption through the plague, suggesting its impact was more moderate than some historians argue.

Justinian thought it caused earthquakes.

Anthony Kaldellis

#498 – Anthony Kaldellis: Roman Empire,…

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