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

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2,200 Years of Roman History

At 21:01 · chapter starts 12:42

With Kaldellis's blessing, Lex offers a rapid-fire chronological tour of the Roman state: the kings expelled in 509 BC, the Gauls sacking Rome in 390 BC, the Punic Wars transforming Rome into a Mediterranean superpower, Caesar crossing the Rubicon, Augustus founding the Principate, the Pax Romana, Diocletian's reforms, Constantine's conversion and founding of Constantinople, the East-West split, the fall of the West in 476 AD, Justinian in the 6th century, the Arab conquests in the 7th, and the final fall of Constantinople in 1453. Kaldellis confirms the accuracy and adds crucial texture: the three main crisis points — Arab conquests of the 630s, Seljuk Turk conquest of Asia Minor in the 1070s, and the Fourth Crusade of 1204 — were each swift and devastating, but most of the empire's history was slow, steady economic and territorial growth ^{[1] — Anthony Kaldellis "From the kings of 753 BC through the Republic, the Principate, the Crisis of the Third Century, Constantine, and the Arab conquests, Rome n…" 11:05 Play} . He then introduces the Ship of Theseus metaphor to explain how a political community can transform entirely while maintaining narrative continuity — and why Roman history, unlike Greek or Christian history, is the story of one specific state rather than a culture or religion.