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

What It Covers

Historian Anthony Kaldellis argues the Byzantine Empire never existed as a separate entity — it was the unbroken Roman Empire continuing in the East. The conversation spans 2,200 years of Roman history, examining taxation, imperial accountability, Constantine's founding of Constantinople, and the mechanisms that kept the empire stable for a millennium.

Key Questions Answered

• •Imperial Accountability via Perpetual Referendum: Roman emperors faced no fixed electoral mandate, meaning public approval was tested continuously. Roughly 46% of Constantinople's emperors were removed through violence, creating a structural incentive to govern competently. Emperors monitored crowd reactions in the 30,000–100,000-capacity Hippodrome to gauge policy support and reversed unpopular decisions in real time.
• •Taxation as the Core Stabilizing Force: Diocletian's universal census in the late third century taxed every asset across the empire, including previously exempt Italy. This created a functioning imperial budget and reduced regional inequality. If one factor explains the East Roman Empire's longevity, Kaldellis identifies systematic, empire-wide taxation as the single most decisive structural element.
• •The Edict of Caracalla as a Radical Inclusion Model: In 212 AD, Emperor Caracalla extended full Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Within one generation, all emperors and top officials came from the provinces. Unlike any comparable empire, Rome implemented this policy with legal teeth — provincial elites gained genuine access to power, draining separatist discontent.
• •Rhetoric vs. Action in Imperial Governance: Drawing on Machiavelli's framework of judging leaders by actions rather than words, Kaldellis finds East Roman emperors were generally sincere in their stated commitments to responsive governance. Emperors projected a persona of sleeplessness, accountability, and proactive problem-solving — and the structural threat of civil war gave them concrete incentive to follow through.
• •Constantine's Strategic Ambiguity on Christianity: Constantine tailored religious messaging by audience — invoking Christ with Christian audiences while using generic "good religion" language in universal laws, and simultaneously erecting a gilded Apollo-like statue of himself in Constantinople. Scholars now lean toward genuine personal belief as his conversion motive, since no convincing political advantage from backing a sub-10% minority religion has been identified.