Here's my conversation with Anthony Kaldellis about the deep history of the Roman Empire in the west and the east (the Byzantine Empire). This was a truly fascinating conversation with a lot of wisdom for the modern world and for the future of human civilization. The Roman state lasted over 2,200 years. If we want to understand human nature, the modern world, and how humanity can flourish, it is valuable to study history, especially the history of why societies survive and why they collapse. It's here on X in full and is up everywhere else (see comment). Timestamps: 0:00 - Episode highlight 1:24 - Introduction 1:51 - The Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire 5:49 - 2,200 Years of Roman History 26:12 - Power, violence, and civil war 47:27 - Edict of Caracalla 1:00:23 - Crisis of the Third Century 1:14:52 - Constantine and the new Roman Empire 1:26:53 - Christianity in the Roman Empire 1:52:21 - Fall of the Western Roman Empire 2:05:17 - Eunuchs, Taxes, and Power 2:30:24 - Emperor Justinian and wars of conquest 2:47:26 - The Arab conquests 3:07:01 - Why the Roman empire survived so long 3:33:08 - Lessons from history
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Here's the links for my conversation with Anthony Kaldellis: YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=pv1TUJSE… Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2MAi0B… Podcast: lexfridman.com/podcast
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Kaldellis has such a unique way of stripping away the romanticism to show the raw mechanics of power. It’s fascinating how those ancient political patterns still echo in our modern structures today. I’m curious, what part of his take on Byzantine governance resonated most with you?

Jul 8, 2026 · 9:43 PM UTC

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The ancient Romans had the concept of the Res Publica - meaning a commowealth of which a ruler is a curator, not the owner. I find it interesting that this concept continued in the East, so that emperors had to project a persona of caring for the common good.
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