Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: th-cam.com/video/DyoVVSggPjY/w-d-xo.html Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: lexfridman.com/sponsors/cv7930-sa See below for guest bio, links, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *GUEST BIO:* Gregory Aldrete is a historian specializing in ancient Rome and military history. *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Gregory's Website: gregorysaldrete.com/ Gregory's Books: amzn.to/3z6NiKC Gregory's Great Courses Plus: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/gregory-s-aldrete Gregory's Audible: adbl.co/4e72oP0 *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-cv7930-sa *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to lexfridman.com/s/shopify-cv7930-sa *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to lexfridman.com/s/ag1-cv7930-sa *BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling. Go to lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-cv7930-sa *ExpressVPN:* Fast & secure VPN. Go to lexfridman.com/s/expressvpn-cv7930-sa *PODCAST LINKS:* - Podcast Website: lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4.html - Clips Channel: th-cam.com/users/lexclips *SOCIAL LINKS:* - X: x.com/lexfridman - Instagram: instagram.com/lexfridman - TikTok: tiktok.com/@lexfridman - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: facebook.com/lexfridman - Patreon: patreon.com/lexfridman - Telegram: t.me/lexfridma - Reddit: reddit.com/r/lexfridman
Kinda surprised there's not much emphasis on coups and civil wars among competing would-be emperors. Xtianity could go either way, coopt the radicals, generate a universal religion for the universal empire, yeah, disease and barbarian invasion too but without corruption and civil wars the west would have lasted longer.
His first sentence, sounds like he is talking about the UK today. From the greatest empire the world has ever seen, to a woke, dystopian, oppressive, nanny/police state.
@John-PaulHunt-q3z I really have no idea where you're going with that other than that's who Constantine worshipped at the time of his conquest, but sol invictus is a Roman deity and Aurelian was the Emperor who restored the empire.
Growing up, I always thought Atilla the Hun was a StarWars character, confusing his name with Jabba…no I can’t hear Atilla’s name without picturing Jabba riding a horse 😂
Constantine ended the persecution of Christians by declaring religious tolerance throughout the empire. He became a significant patron of the faith and promoted Christianity as a requirement for one's advancement in the imperial bureaucracy. By thus undercutting the value of affiliating with the already established religious cults, their decline allowed him to acquire their wealth & assets ( cf: Henry VIII). His tolerance of Christianity honoured his mother, Helena, a devout believer who expended great effort in tracking down holy relics. But, for all of his pragmatic support, his actual 'conversion' is a matter of debate. If he was indeed ever formally baptised as a Christian -the actual sacred act of accepting the faith- that is only reported to have occurred as a deathbed conversion (and that most likely happening at the hands of an Arian bishop, a branch of Christianity subsequently declared a heresy).
During the Third Century Crisis, emperors faced a serious dilemma: they couldn't delegate military command without risking rebellion from their generals. In some cases, even loyal generals were pressured to rebel by their own troops after a major victory. As a result, emperors were forced to personally lead the army during significant campaigns. This constant need for direct command ultimately led to the division of the empire, with two emperors having absolute power in his part of the empire. In contrast, earlier emperors like Augustus or Nero were able to delegate military responsibilities and send generals to lead on their behalf.
Literally the same exact thing I said. As that Roman General Knew Something was going downhill. I thought to myself wow same here America’s actually going downhill and we all know it. The Empires Crumbling in Real Time… And guess what? Average Empire usually Lasts 250 years Give or Take. Guess how Old The American Empire is…… brace yourselves…. a WHOPPING 248 Years OLD!! Get Ready fellas cuz something bigs coming for sure!! We were just on the brink of Cival war with the Trump Assassination…. Imagine if it actually went through…. Yeah no Way MAGA would let that one Slide!!🔥🔥
I question his view on that point. I think it's actually quite common for people to have nostalgia from their youth and view things as being better back then. This is something that's observed today even in cases where the data shows objective improvement.
Actually Constantine didn't name the city after himself he called it Nova Roma, it was called constantinople by the people and that name stuck, otherwise the official name used to this very day by the Orthodox Partiarch is "Νεα Ρωμη" Νova Roma..
The Medieval Greeks called themselves Romaioi ( Romans) the Vlahs in Romania and in the Balkans call themselves Romani/Rumuni aka Citizens of Rome, the Christian populations in the Middle East are called Rum, the Ottoman sultan’s title after the conquest of Constantinople was Kaisar-y-Rum, the Byzantines never existed they where just Romans speaking one of the official languages of the empire as in Greek and continuing the legacy of Caesar, Augustus and Constantine in the east!, even in Western Europe you have people in Switzerland calling themselves Romansh and there language Roman.
It would be interesting to see Gregory talk about the detrimental economic and social effects of large latifundia owners and their use of slave labour as opposed to the previous model of smaller individual farms owned by veterans.
Many consider the major military blow to the Roman empire to be the clash with the Huns. It was a stalemate, but the empire never truly recovered after that. Vandals and Goths only finished it off a little later.
Lex, you have to bring Dr Roy Casagranda and make him talk about the Rise and Decline of the Islamic Empire/Caliphate and it's greatest Kings and Warriors.
Oh, please, please, please don't platform that charlatan! Roy Casagranda is an entertainer, not an historian. He never lets the facts get in the way of spinning a good yarn. Perhaps that's why his PhD has only got him as far as a teaching post at a community college and not a university. He is constantly misrepresenting historical events to promote his own narrative. You don't have to listen very long to his lectures to realise how prejudiced and erroneous his reading of history is.
The empire had 300 years of prosperity and 1000 years of slow decline and recovery the Roman state existed from 756 Bc to the 1453, that’s 2200 years no state in Europe survived changed adapted as much as the Romans.
We Orthodox also would say that that after the fall of Constantinople, Russia inherited the Roman Empire, the Tsar (Caesar) was the true heir to the imperial throne. So really it lasted until 1917
@@paprskometI mean if there is a empire that heredited the most out of the roman way of life they were either the ottomans or the russians. They both took a lot from Rome but both failed at the most important Roman attribute. Change to survive. Modern Russia is certainly trying to relit that spirit. But all things aside Constantinople was the last stand of Rome
@Marcelocostache what you wrote (and Gregory Aldrete stated) is historically wrong! The eastern Mediterranean has never been trully Roman, even when it was conquered and ruled by the Romans. It had been "hellenistic" for centuries and it remained hellenistic even when ruled by the Romans. Linguistically and culturally it was predominantly Greek and its inhabitants were predominantly Greek (especially in Asia Minor / Anatolia and of course in Greece).Especially after the 6th century what you call "Eastern Roman Empire" in reality was a Greek Byzantine empire! When The Ottoman Turks besieged Constantinople, in 1453, and finally managed to take it over, entering that glorious city, slaughtering and raping thousands of people, they didn't encounter a single Roman in Constantinople, just Greek-Byzantines - and a few Genovese etc.
Constantine didn't call new capital Constantinople, he called it "New Rome", apparently it was other romans accustomized the name everybody used until Ottomans came.
6:00 The idea of a "team" of emperors then (apart one one or two rare exceptions) becomes the normal means of ruling the empire from then onwards for the next thousand years of its history.
You can't present "a fun fact" and be wrong, that's just ridiculous. The most expensive item of Diocletian's edict on maximum prices was purple-dyed silk. And btw it was 150,000 denari per pound versus 250 dinari for hiring a layer per case
Not suprised at all to find out this guy was wrong about that because I quite literally found his explanations of nearly every single aspect of Roman History to be either comically vague, massively over simplified or even elementary to the point of being wrong or even strait up wrong/bullshit. I think people just love this SUBJECT and are mostly ignorant of the facts so they are overly impressed by a guy who is unimpressive as a Roman Historian.
@georgeokoro1149 Sir, do you expect me to write a giant essay picking apart HOURS of commentary and pointing out each and every over generalization, mischarachterization, and ETC contained within it.??? 🤣 For the purpose of what exactly? So a stranger on the internet is satisfied that I am as educated as I actually am on matters of Roman history? I think not...🤣... You can just believe whatever you like and it will not effect me at all. Obviously... do you think us to be insecure children on a playground sir?🤣 HOWEVER, as luck would have it (should you be so seriously inclined to find out the depths of my education) I have been an active professional writer for a large portion of my adult life and as such could satisfy your curiosity without it being an overly onerous task. If you are truly so curious as to know each and every detail of this man's lackadaisical trip through Roman history that I take issue with, I would be happy to deliver you an entire full length essay which goes through this interview step by step to provide said information. As long as you are willing to pay me for my services like any other client does. As a matter of fact, since I enjoy the topic so much more than... (for instance)... ...writing Business Plans or summaries of competitive landscapes for entrepreneurs or investigating the mundane machinations of quasi governmental public agencies tasked with preserving historic sea vessels and etc... ...and mostly because I would hate for it to be thought that I was not a Gentleman... I will even give you a significant discount on my usual payment rate. 🤣
Diocletian is one of my favourite emperors as the Roman Empire had decades of infighting and invasions from barbarians, and Diocletian stabilised the empire and enacted new fortifications along the boarders. He also voluntarily abdicated the throne.
4:47 What? Constantine had done the whole 'let's put crosses on our shields in order to win the battle' two times before? One with Helios, apparently. I'm far from an expert on Constantine, but I'd never heard about this. Is there maybe a source that I can check out?
It would be interesting to know why he doesn't think moral decline is a valid factor for the fall of Rome. You can obviously never pin it as the only answer, but it necessarily bleeds into every human behaviour.
Also, many members of the Roman military were worshipping Mithras, a Persian deity, which undermined the authority of the emperor, and contributed to decline.
I don't think this is a major factor in its decline. The cult of Mithras was influential don't get me wrong but Christianity inevitably ended most of the cults in the empire eventually.
Lex, what an interesting guest! What a student of Roman Empire history! I appreciate his overarching ideas of how and why the Roman Empire ended as well as the smaller details he can use to discuss this decline. About ten years ago, I went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out when and why the Roman Empire ended. Now I understand why it was so hard for me to determine when and how the Roman Empire ended - because the historians don’t agree when. It appears to me that the end of the Roman Empire seems to have been a slow, downward drift consisting of different events.
The simplest and most correct answer for the fall of the western empire is that Europe got colder probably due to a change in the gulf stream and therefore the European sub-continent couldn't produce the food necessary to support it's population once lots of people are facing starvation things tend to go sideways.
If you drop a ball at what point does it fall? When you let go or when it hits the floor? The true answer is both, from the starting point to the ending point. So what’s the starting point? when they were past the point of no return I would assume.
I've read that the Christian population equaled only 2% of Rome. Your guest estimates 10%. Was this difference on the basis of time - more in the 4th century? Enjoyed the podcast. Thank you.
Rome was pretty Pagan at the time of Diocletian. Most of the Christians were in the eastern regions at that time. Very much still in the minority, of course, even in those regions.
After the edict of Milan in 313, Christianity was not illegal anymore so probably after 300 Christianity started to rise very fast. In 380 Theodosius made Christianity the state religion. After 390 it even became illegal to worship pagan gods. Around 400 AD I think half of the empire, so roughly 5 mil were Christian.
@@donttakeitpersonal8704 I've also read that another 100 years later, by about 500, pagans became the minority and Christians the majority. The emperor Justinian dealt the last blow to these pagan minorities via his maximalist approach to law, which was arguably more hands on than any emperor before or after him. By about 600, paganism was virtually none- existent save for some groups in the Mani peninsula of Greece, who were still reported to be practicing their faith in the 12th century.
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. A lot of this is sounding very familiar to the immigration problem that’s happening in America and Western Europe today. Even though the “asylum seekers” Are not being treated particularly badly, they aren’t integrating. And because of it, a lot of people are viewing it as an invasion. And as we learned from the Roman history, that sort of thing is what brings down the Roman Empire ultimately, because Visigoth’s Eventually, sack, and then other barbarian tribes like the vandals do the same, and the Roman citizenry is diluted, until there’s no more empire left. A stark warning for the current situation in the west.
The inevitable had to happen. For the Romans to fall back to their ancient Hellenic roots! That's why Byzantium revived the Hellenic spirit, only through the language of ancient Greek, culture and lifestyle can humanity be reborn again.
There would have been a lot of written apologetics by the time of Constantine's conversion and there would have been the bishops of the Church to catechize him. I seriously doubt this "he might not have fully understood what he was converting to" line of thinking.
Reading this comments section, I have to deduce that the vast majority not only know nothing about the Roman Empire and its history, but they didn't even understand the explanation in the video itself...
@@ensirakor3063 you don't have to be Andrei Gazdovici to understand the content of this video (also because there is only one Andrei Gazdovici in the world...😉) it would simply be enough to have a knowledge and understanding of the story at junior high levels ...it's not rocket science...
You don't need to know Roman history as we are reliving it's downfall in real time now. Barbarian invasion, overextention, political corruption, inflation and faltering economy...
As a student of history rome fell because it converted to Christianity and its concept of heaven and hell. Roman society was a slave society and slaves had miserable lives but a saviour came known as Christianity that would transport them to heaven after they die only if they believed in the one true son of god. Many slaves simply flung themselves to death in gladitorial arenas because it gave then a escape from the terrible lives they lived.
Saying Christianity made the Western Roman empire fall typically makes the assumption that the barbarians weren't Christian and that somehow made them have greater martial prowess. Yet, in reality, by the time the Western Roman empire permanently fractured, all of the "barbarian" kings were already Christian as well and they helped maintain the Romanitas and knowledge of the empire beyond its fall.
Switching to a new religion did put a nail in the coffin towards the "old" Rome. The new Rome that Constantine established in the east, embraced Christianity. So much so in fact, the first Bible was written in Greek, instead of Latin.
Europe changed from Italy to Iberia, all Germanics moved to Iberia, they established there their first capitals. Then the Arab empire also moved there and from the Christian effort to expelled the Arabs created the great world discoveries and a new planet was built.
You should mention civil wars as the most important reason but you didn't. All those wannna be dictator generals fighting each other constantly weakened the core, ignored the defense of borders, changed the military loyalty to a person and money instead of the empire as a whole.
One would think that if the Romans had a "plan" they would have defined it at some point early and referenced it in literature and politics throughout the centuries. They were obsessed with power, wealth, and comfort, and everything they did was in pursuit of those things. They were people who founded their nation on the principle of avarice. Selling the lie that it was ordained by the gods they should rule the world seems to be the proof of it. They certainly had a goal, but not a plan.
What no mention of Aurelian? Really! Just a number of general emperors who put the empire back together the most important being Diocletian. The very fact there was even an empire to inherit was all down to Invictus Restitutor Orbis Aurelian, who knows where it would have ended if the Romans hadn’t screwed themselves by assassinating him five years in to his reign. In five years he put an empire, broken in three and over run in the north and the east, back together again. Put that against Diocletian, who invented the most god awful government in existence and layed the foundation for feudalism and absolute divine monarchy
North Africa was actually the richest province of the Western Empire during the 5th century as crazy as that might sound today, while Egypt was the richest provinces in general and this was because of the surplus of food these 2 provinces were able to produce.
I have written tens of civilized comments under this video, which are all deleted! This is my answer to a certain "georgekoro", who seems to be a nationalistic troll, as his TH-cam channel has no content at all and provides no info! """@georgeokoro1149 who am I? I am a Greek of Greek-Byzantine descent! My wife's family was an old Greek Constantinopolitan family that was living in Constantinople (today's Istanbul) for centuries. Just a century ago almost 300.000 Greeks (descendants of the Greek Byzantines) were living in Constantinople! My ancestors and my wife's family were not some kind of immigrants in Constantinople, they were the original, predominant population of that glorious city and of all Asia Minor: Greek-Byzantines! And as I said, they were living for centuries in Constantinople till the Turks expelled them in 1964 and they were forced to come over to Athens, Greece. That's who I am my friend! Who are you though and why you care so much that the Greek Byzantines be called "Romans"? Usually, the Turkish nationalists are promoting that kind of age nn ddaaa!"""
Imagine being Roman and finding out your emperor was picked because he had the most swords. It’s like choosing a CEO based on who has the most followers on Instagram.
it was reasonable, army was one of the most important gears of power especially in thouse tumultuous years of 3d century. Emperor had to be able to fight barbarians or persians and defend the borders
Rome fell for different reasons. Barbarian incursions, bad governing and for me the most important thing, their stubbornness to make changes in their political system. Unlike the Ottoman empire for example, that had a string of good Sultans in the beginning, the Romans had big highs followed soon after by terrible low lows.
Fast forward to 2024 ad and the Roman Empire national soccer team has won 7 major international trophies and are ranked 8th in the world. Not bad, not bad.
Both Diocetian and Constantine were Illyrians. Why do you keep avoiding that Illyrian component in the division of the Roman Empire? Probably in order to avoid the participation of the largest European tribe in history (even today), namely the Slavs.
Just a thought, we need scholars to answer the questions about the collapse of the American empire, with a special focus upon the antiwhite elements leading to its downfall.
It ended in 1453 period. That was the fall of the last seat of Roman power. I don't care if Greek (hell Julius Cesears last words were actually in Greek) became the majority language. The culture was a continuation of the ever evolving "Roman" culture of the empire. The empire had one last major resurgence under Justinian with the reconquest of Italy, North Africa and Southern Hispania. A smaller resurgence with Basil II and another with Alexios Kominos. After the death of Justinian though it was basically a 1000 year free fall...kickstarted by Phocus who usurped Maurice, with the final end to it all being the fall of Nova Roma aka Constantinople, in 1453. The major contributor to the fall. ENDLESS F'ING CIVIL WARS AND SUCCESSION CRISES'. Wasn't immigration, wasn't inflation, wasn't anything but that. Civil Wars. Inflation crises and barbarian invasions were a symptom of periods of instability from....civil wars.
make sure to keep the role of the vatican, the franks, the crusades, the republic of venice for the trade routes, 1204 which left a city of half a million with 50000 to defend against the turks out of your whitewashed narrative. and how the whole of europe run to the defence of Vienna but shrug their arms when it came to Constantinople. because West: never in the wrong, always the good guys. civil wars my ass
@@EliasTsakmakis A central and Eastern European coalition forces was crushed by the Ottomans in the battle of Varna (1444) and battle of Kosovo (1448) while France and Britain was in the conclusion of their "100 year war, " thus they were not able to provide any assistance.
Justinian over stretch the army of the Empire, prior to his reign was the true Golden age for the Byzantines from the reign of Marcian up until the reign of Anastasius when the treasury was constantly at a surplus and the borders of the Empire were well defended. Much of the Balkans and Greece was pretty much lost and devastated as a result of Justinian relocating much of the Balkan army to Italy, Slavic settlers literally just migrated to the now undefended Balkan borders and kicked out the tax paying Roman citizens from their farms and when the Avars enter the scene, towns and major forts also fell.
@@ronb7189 I am not so naïve or blindfolded to attribute the fall of the Eastern Empire exclusively to the actions of the western kingdoms and the power plays of the Vatican. A thousand years Empire defending every inch of every border, literal or otherwise, will inevitably find itself plagued with a multitude of problems, including a literal Plague. But lets not pretend that there was European love lost with the Fall of Constantinople or that since the Schism there weren't clear patterns of antagonistic to openly polemical behaviour for political and supposedly "spiritual" legitimacy between the Patriarchate and the Vatican. And for the Historians who love to trace world tendencies and currents on singular events, the Empire was lost if anything else in Mantzikert. The Europeans were more than happy to do what they repeatedly since have done, have someone else do their dirty work for them and look to arrange the outcome to their benefit.
@@ronb7189 And if you are still not convinced ask yourself if Russo phobia would not run so deep in western Europe if Russia had not picked up the banner of Orthodoxy declaring itself the Third Rome. This is Europe and no matter how much they want to erase our historical memory we are dealing with relationships built over thousands of years.
Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: th-cam.com/video/DyoVVSggPjY/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: lexfridman.com/sponsors/cv7930-sa
See below for guest bio, links, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
*GUEST BIO:*
Gregory Aldrete is a historian specializing in ancient Rome and military history.
*CONTACT LEX:*
*Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey
*AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama
*Hiring* - join our team: lexfridman.com/hiring
*Other* - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact
*EPISODE LINKS:*
Gregory's Website: gregorysaldrete.com/
Gregory's Books: amzn.to/3z6NiKC
Gregory's Great Courses Plus: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/gregory-s-aldrete
Gregory's Audible: adbl.co/4e72oP0
*SPONSORS:*
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
*LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-cv7930-sa
*Shopify:* Sell stuff online.
Go to lexfridman.com/s/shopify-cv7930-sa
*AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks.
Go to lexfridman.com/s/ag1-cv7930-sa
*BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling.
Go to lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-cv7930-sa
*ExpressVPN:* Fast & secure VPN.
Go to lexfridman.com/s/expressvpn-cv7930-sa
*PODCAST LINKS:*
- Podcast Website: lexfridman.com/podcast
- Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr
- Spotify: spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
- RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
- Podcast Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4.html
- Clips Channel: th-cam.com/users/lexclips
*SOCIAL LINKS:*
- X: x.com/lexfridman
- Instagram: instagram.com/lexfridman
- TikTok: tiktok.com/@lexfridman
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
- Facebook: facebook.com/lexfridman
- Patreon: patreon.com/lexfridman
- Telegram: t.me/lexfridma
- Reddit: reddit.com/r/lexfridman
Kinda surprised there's not much emphasis on coups and civil wars among competing would-be emperors. Xtianity could go either way, coopt the radicals, generate a universal religion for the universal empire, yeah, disease and barbarian invasion too but without corruption and civil wars the west would have lasted longer.
This guy is one of the most interesting people you've ever had on Lex.
agreed
He’s a very good story teller
Did we watch the same video?
@@drdkphd I think he is a terrible story teller
@@coreyjsilva3534 yeah u must be stupid then
I doubt it was Christianity that caused the empire to fall, considering the Eastern half lasted another 1000 years
The other half was also Christian dum dum..
Thank you for not calling it Byzantine and referring to it as the eastern half of Rome
Pet pieve of mine
Maybe until Basil II, after him, yes you can still technically call it an Empire, but I doubt it was much of that
Well to be fair eastern empire did eventually come down because islamic empires thought of it as a christian empire.
yea n they only fell because of the islamic conquests lol. East also was the one writing most of the law basis used nowadays.
His first sentence, sounds like he is talking about the UK today. From the greatest empire the world has ever seen, to a woke, dystopian, oppressive, nanny/police state.
"These other guys" lol. Can't believe you would brush off Aurelian like that, "Savior of the world"
Restitutor Orbis
@John-PaulHunt-q3z lol who said anything about Christmas?
@John-PaulHunt-q3z nobody was talking about Christmas, I was talking about the Emperor Aurelian.
@John-PaulHunt-q3z I really have no idea where you're going with that other than that's who Constantine worshipped at the time of his conquest, but sol invictus is a Roman deity and Aurelian was the Emperor who restored the empire.
Did Ms. Attila call her husband 'Hun'?
Growing up, I always thought Atilla the Hun was a StarWars character, confusing his name with Jabba…no I can’t hear Atilla’s name without picturing Jabba riding a horse 😂
@@Pudge_FZJ80 Hun Solo.
LOL! I really did laugh out loud at your comment.
@@andyroo9381 What did Attila have in common with Winnie The Poo? Same middle name.
If I was emperor that joke would result in immediate jailing 😅
Constantine ended the persecution of Christians by declaring religious tolerance throughout the empire. He became a significant patron of the faith and promoted Christianity as a requirement for one's advancement in the imperial bureaucracy. By thus undercutting the value of affiliating with the already established religious cults, their decline allowed him to acquire their wealth & assets ( cf: Henry VIII). His tolerance of Christianity honoured his mother, Helena, a devout believer who expended great effort in tracking down holy relics. But, for all of his pragmatic support, his actual 'conversion' is a matter of debate. If he was indeed ever formally baptised as a Christian -the actual sacred act of accepting the faith- that is only reported to have occurred as a deathbed conversion (and that most likely happening at the hands of an Arian bishop, a branch of Christianity subsequently declared a heresy).
During the Third Century Crisis, emperors faced a serious dilemma: they couldn't delegate military command without risking rebellion from their generals. In some cases, even loyal generals were pressured to rebel by their own troops after a major victory. As a result, emperors were forced to personally lead the army during significant campaigns. This constant need for direct command ultimately led to the division of the empire, with two emperors having absolute power in his part of the empire.
In contrast, earlier emperors like Augustus or Nero were able to delegate military responsibilities and send generals to lead on their behalf.
Not mentioning Emperor Majorian's hail mary to restore the empire to its former glory is absolutely criminal.
That sense that something is adrift and a downturn is pending is a worrying sentiment we share today. Hopefully I am wrong.
Literally the same exact thing I said. As that Roman General Knew Something was going downhill. I thought to myself wow same here America’s actually going downhill and we all know it. The Empires Crumbling in Real Time… And guess what? Average Empire usually Lasts 250 years Give or Take. Guess how Old The American Empire is…… brace yourselves…. a WHOPPING 248 Years OLD!! Get Ready fellas cuz something bigs coming for sure!! We were just on the brink of Cival war with the Trump Assassination…. Imagine if it actually went through…. Yeah no Way MAGA would let that one Slide!!🔥🔥
The decline of the Roman empire lasted longer than the United has been a country so I hope for so long of a decline.
youre right. the important question is if nuclear war can be averted.
I question his view on that point. I think it's actually quite common for people to have nostalgia from their youth and view things as being better back then. This is something that's observed today even in cases where the data shows objective improvement.
@@neededahandlealso That's not the opinion that he shared. It was more of an eerie feeling than nostalgia that was felt.
Actually Constantine didn't name the city after himself he called it Nova Roma, it was called constantinople by the people and that name stuck, otherwise the official name used to this very day by the Orthodox Partiarch is "Νεα Ρωμη" Νova Roma..
He actually called it Uppaloopa City but a lot of people don't know that.
The Medieval Greeks called themselves Romaioi ( Romans) the Vlahs in Romania and in the Balkans call themselves Romani/Rumuni aka Citizens of Rome, the Christian populations in the Middle East are called Rum, the Ottoman sultan’s title after the conquest of Constantinople was Kaisar-y-Rum, the Byzantines never existed they where just Romans speaking one of the official languages of the empire as in Greek and continuing the legacy of Caesar, Augustus and Constantine in the east!, even in Western Europe you have people in Switzerland calling themselves Romansh and there language Roman.
@@Marcelocostache Is eating a cat the same as eating a pussy?
@@Marcelocostache my grand parents called themselves “Romioi“ and even still today Greeks refer to themselves as such.
Hmmm ... I know it's former name was Byzantion, hence the later term Byzantine.
I could nerd out with this guy for days
It would be interesting to see Gregory talk about the detrimental economic and social effects of large latifundia owners and their use of slave labour as opposed to the previous model of smaller individual farms owned by veterans.
Many consider the major military blow to the Roman empire to be the clash with the Huns. It was a stalemate, but the empire never truly recovered after that. Vandals and Goths only finished it off a little later.
Don't forget about the impact of plague
Lex, you have to bring Dr Roy Casagranda and make him talk about the Rise and Decline of the Islamic Empire/Caliphate and it's greatest Kings and Warriors.
Oh, please, please, please don't platform that charlatan! Roy Casagranda is an entertainer, not an historian. He never lets the facts get in the way of spinning a good yarn. Perhaps that's why his PhD has only got him as far as a teaching post at a community college and not a university. He is constantly misrepresenting historical events to promote his own narrative. You don't have to listen very long to his lectures to realise how prejudiced and erroneous his reading of history is.
This guy is very engaging
The empire had 300 years of prosperity and 1000 years of slow decline and recovery the Roman state existed from 756 Bc to the 1453, that’s 2200 years no state in Europe survived changed adapted as much as the Romans.
We Orthodox also would say that that after the fall of Constantinople, Russia inherited the Roman Empire, the Tsar (Caesar) was the true heir to the imperial throne. So really it lasted until 1917
@@harmonicproportions6588 Russian monk simply invented concept of 3rd Rome on his knee.If Russia inherited something from Rome,many others too.
@@paprskometI mean if there is a empire that heredited the most out of the roman way of life they were either the ottomans or the russians.
They both took a lot from Rome but both failed at the most important Roman attribute. Change to survive.
Modern Russia is certainly trying to relit that spirit.
But all things aside Constantinople was the last stand of Rome
@Marcelocostache what you wrote (and Gregory Aldrete stated) is historically wrong! The eastern Mediterranean has never been trully Roman, even when it was conquered and ruled by the Romans. It had been "hellenistic" for centuries and it remained hellenistic even when ruled by the Romans. Linguistically and culturally it was predominantly Greek and its inhabitants were predominantly Greek (especially in Asia Minor / Anatolia and of course in Greece).Especially after the 6th century what you call "Eastern Roman Empire" in reality was a Greek Byzantine empire!
When The Ottoman Turks besieged Constantinople, in 1453, and finally managed to take it over, entering that glorious city, slaughtering and raping thousands of people, they didn't encounter a single Roman in Constantinople, just Greek-Byzantines - and a few Genovese etc.
@@ThomasGazis 🤣🤣🤣 en the western Mediterranean that was full of of Celtic Iberian poenician and berbers was ?!
I would like a whole episode about east rome. It is important history, especially nowadays imo.
Thanks for this one 😊
I bet you say that to all the boys!
Constantine didn't call new capital Constantinople, he called it "New Rome", apparently it was other romans accustomized the name everybody used until Ottomans came.
The Vandals didn’t just leave Spain for North Africa - they were driven out of Spain by the Visigoths.
6:00 The idea of a "team" of emperors then (apart one one or two rare exceptions) becomes the normal means of ruling the empire from then onwards for the next thousand years of its history.
You can't present "a fun fact" and be wrong, that's just ridiculous. The most expensive item of Diocletian's edict on maximum prices was purple-dyed silk. And btw it was 150,000 denari per pound versus 250 dinari for hiring a layer per case
Not suprised at all to find out this guy was wrong about that because I quite literally found his explanations of nearly every single aspect of Roman History to be either comically vague, massively over simplified or even elementary to the point of being wrong or even strait up wrong/bullshit.
I think people just love this SUBJECT and are mostly ignorant of the facts so they are overly impressed by a guy who is unimpressive as a Roman Historian.
@@coreyjsilva3534then make your correction. What did he get wrong?
@georgeokoro1149 Sir, do you expect me to write a giant essay picking apart HOURS of commentary and pointing out each and every over generalization, mischarachterization, and ETC contained within it.??? 🤣
For the purpose of what exactly? So a stranger on the internet is satisfied that I am as educated as I actually am on matters of Roman history?
I think not...🤣... You can just believe whatever you like and it will not effect me at all. Obviously... do you think us to be insecure children on a playground sir?🤣
HOWEVER, as luck would have it (should you be so seriously inclined to find out the depths of my education) I have been an active professional writer for a large portion of my adult life and as such could satisfy your curiosity without it being an overly onerous task. If you are truly so curious as to know each and every detail of this man's lackadaisical trip through Roman history that I take issue with, I would be happy to deliver you an entire full length essay which goes through this interview step by step to provide said information.
As long as you are willing to pay me for my services like any other client does. As a matter of fact, since I enjoy the topic so much more than...
(for instance)...
...writing Business Plans or summaries of competitive landscapes for entrepreneurs or investigating the mundane machinations of quasi governmental public agencies tasked with preserving historic sea vessels and etc...
...and mostly because I would hate for it to be thought that I was not a Gentleman...
I will even give you a significant discount on my usual payment rate. 🤣
Maybe he meant the most expensive service, as opposed to the most expensive commodity.
@Jonmad17 That is a rather insightful comment sir and is certainly a possibility.
Diocletian is one of my favourite emperors as the Roman Empire had decades of infighting and invasions from barbarians, and Diocletian stabilised the empire and enacted new fortifications along the boarders. He also voluntarily abdicated the throne.
Well, whatever one thinks of Aurelius, his choice of a successor was a catastrophe.
4:47 What? Constantine had done the whole 'let's put crosses on our shields in order to win the battle' two times before? One with Helios, apparently. I'm far from an expert on Constantine, but I'd never heard about this. Is there maybe a source that I can check out?
What a great guest! Thank you Lex
Learning about ancient rome taught me alot about morals and religion especially christianity.
It would be interesting to know why he doesn't think moral decline is a valid factor for the fall of Rome. You can obviously never pin it as the only answer, but it necessarily bleeds into every human behaviour.
Name an example of how morals declined within the Roman Empire.
Oh god the moral decline argument… Tell us your knowledge of history is superficial and pop culture based without telling us just that..
I'm pretty sure 'moral decline' had been a thing in Rome at least since the late Republic...
Didn't they have orgies and vomitoriums
morality actually became more rigid and people became more virtuous with the spread of christianity
Also, many members of the Roman military were worshipping Mithras, a Persian deity, which undermined the authority of the emperor, and contributed to decline.
I don't think this is a major factor in its decline. The cult of Mithras was influential don't get me wrong but Christianity inevitably ended most of the cults in the empire eventually.
I saw Gregory Aldrete in Madison at Burritos as big as your head! Crushing!
Lex, what an interesting guest! What a student of Roman Empire history!
I appreciate his overarching ideas of how and why the Roman Empire ended as well as the smaller details he can use to discuss this decline.
About ten years ago, I went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out when and why the Roman Empire ended.
Now I understand why it was so hard for me to determine when and how the Roman Empire ended - because the historians don’t agree when. It appears to me that the end of the Roman Empire seems to have been a slow, downward drift consisting of different events.
The simplest and most correct answer for the fall of the western empire is that Europe got colder probably due to a change in the gulf stream and therefore the European sub-continent couldn't produce the food necessary to support it's population once lots of people are facing starvation things tend to go sideways.
If you drop a ball at what point does it fall? When you let go or when it hits the floor?
The true answer is both, from the starting point to the ending point. So what’s the starting point? when they were past the point of no return I would assume.
I really enjoyed this session. One question: many historians mention the battle of Adrianopoli 378ad, is this the one he mentioned at 15:47 minute?
Were people (outside the Jews) not religious in Western Civilization before Christianity? Or was it around the planets and related Gods in that realm?
They were very religious but not like today. For example many Barbaric groups like the visigoths, huns, slavs, vandals had their own pagan gods.
I've read that the Christian population equaled only 2% of Rome. Your guest estimates 10%. Was this difference on the basis of time - more in the 4th century?
Enjoyed the podcast. Thank you.
Most academics think that by the year 300 it was 10 percent.
Rome was pretty Pagan at the time of Diocletian. Most of the Christians were in the eastern regions at that time. Very much still in the minority, of course, even in those regions.
It was probably at least 10%. A few million by then for sure
After the edict of Milan in 313, Christianity was not illegal anymore so probably after 300 Christianity started to rise very fast. In 380 Theodosius made Christianity the state religion. After 390 it even became illegal to worship pagan gods. Around 400 AD I think half of the empire, so roughly 5 mil were Christian.
@@donttakeitpersonal8704 I've also read that another 100 years later, by about 500, pagans became the minority and Christians the majority.
The emperor Justinian dealt the last blow to these pagan minorities via his maximalist approach to law, which was arguably more hands on than any emperor before or after him.
By about 600, paganism was virtually none- existent save for some groups in the Mani peninsula of Greece, who were still reported to be practicing their faith in the 12th century.
He should have a TH-cam channel
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. A lot of this is sounding very familiar to the immigration problem that’s happening in America and Western Europe today. Even though the “asylum seekers” Are not being treated particularly badly, they aren’t integrating. And because of it, a lot of people are viewing it as an invasion. And as we learned from the Roman history, that sort of thing is what brings down the Roman Empire ultimately, because Visigoth’s Eventually, sack, and then other barbarian tribes like the vandals do the same, and the Roman citizenry is diluted, until there’s no more empire left. A stark warning for the current situation in the west.
Fantastic.
The inevitable had to happen. For the Romans to fall back to their ancient Hellenic roots! That's why Byzantium revived the Hellenic spirit, only through the language of ancient Greek, culture and lifestyle can humanity be reborn again.
I took his class on Rome on great courses plus a few years ago.. knowledgeable historian
There would have been a lot of written apologetics by the time of Constantine's conversion and there would have been the bishops of the Church to catechize him. I seriously doubt this "he might not have fully understood what he was converting to" line of thinking.
The Roman Empire fell when Roman Law fell. The German kingdoms were legally different from the Empire. The Roman Empire fell in 1453.
What does remind us of? Hmm 🧐
Reading this comments section, I have to deduce that the vast majority not only know nothing about the Roman Empire and its history, but they didn't even understand the explanation in the video itself...
Not all of us can be andreitiberiovicgazdovici
@@ensirakor3063 you don't have to be Andrei Gazdovici to understand the content of this video (also because there is only one Andrei Gazdovici in the world...😉) it would simply be enough to have a knowledge and understanding of the story at junior high levels ...it's not rocket science...
@@andreitiberiovicgazdovici thats what I said! You are too smart, we cant all be like you!
You don't need to know Roman history as we are reliving it's downfall in real time now. Barbarian invasion, overextention, political corruption, inflation and faltering economy...
@@andreitiberiovicgazdovici bow down to the one and only Andrei tiberiovic gazdovici ✋
Reminds me of the UK in terms of the cycling of PMs
The empires always rise and fall and only a group of people always moves on with lots of gold and other goods… before the empire falls
Western Europe’s purity spiral
As a student of history rome fell because it converted to Christianity and its concept of heaven and hell.
Roman society was a slave society and slaves had miserable lives but a saviour came known as Christianity that would transport them to heaven after they die only if they believed in the one true son of god.
Many slaves simply flung themselves to death in gladitorial arenas because it gave then a escape from the terrible lives they lived.
Saying Christianity made the Western Roman empire fall typically makes the assumption that the barbarians weren't Christian and that somehow made them have greater martial prowess. Yet, in reality, by the time the Western Roman empire permanently fractured, all of the "barbarian" kings were already Christian as well and they helped maintain the Romanitas and knowledge of the empire beyond its fall.
Switching to a new religion did put a nail in the coffin towards the "old" Rome. The new Rome that Constantine established in the east, embraced Christianity. So much so in fact, the first Bible was written in Greek, instead of Latin.
@@Miodrag.Vukomanovic Completely forgetting St Jerome's Latin Vulgate.
I am getting the impression this lex dude is pushing something
Europe changed from Italy to Iberia, all Germanics moved to Iberia, they established there their first capitals. Then the Arab empire also moved there and from the Christian effort to expelled the Arabs created the great world discoveries and a new planet was built.
You should mention civil wars as the most important reason but you didn't. All those wannna be dictator generals fighting each other constantly weakened the core, ignored the defense of borders, changed the military loyalty to a person and money instead of the empire as a whole.
Why didn’t he mention when Maximus defeated Commodus!???
One would think that if the Romans had a "plan" they would have defined it at some point early and referenced it in literature and politics throughout the centuries. They were obsessed with power, wealth, and comfort, and everything they did was in pursuit of those things. They were people who founded their nation on the principle of avarice. Selling the lie that it was ordained by the gods they should rule the world seems to be the proof of it. They certainly had a goal, but not a plan.
Just like most Americans 😅
When did historians give up on the past tense?
What no mention of Aurelian? Really! Just a number of general emperors who put the empire back together the most important being Diocletian. The very fact there was even an empire to inherit was all down to Invictus Restitutor Orbis Aurelian, who knows where it would have ended if the Romans hadn’t screwed themselves by assassinating him five years in to his reign. In five years he put an empire, broken in three and over run in the north and the east, back together again. Put that against Diocletian, who invented the most god awful government in existence and layed the foundation for feudalism and absolute divine monarchy
Love this guy.. This is great
Why is lex sighing when asking to talk about the crisis of the 3rd century like it still annoys him to think about it’s been awhile
If generally knowing history was a person
The day when West Roman Empire went South.
Fascinating.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
What did they look like in imperial rome?
He was not a great emperor but I love the name Diocletian!
... the surplus of food in Spain and north Africa? really?
North Africa was actually the richest province of the Western Empire during the 5th century as crazy as that might sound today, while Egypt was the richest provinces in general and this was because of the surplus of food these 2 provinces were able to produce.
Η Ρωμανία πέρασε, η Ρωμανία 'πάρθεν.
Η Ρωμανία κι αν πέρασεν, ανθεί και φέρει κι άλλο.
Didn't have lawyers 😅
Roman Law is studied by all wannabe lawyers around the World
@vlasisv3415 Μάλλον δεν καταλάβατε ότι σε αυτό το βίντεο προωθείται η άποψη ότι το Βυζάντιο δεν είχε καμία σχέση με την Ελλάδα και ότι ήταν Ρωμαϊκό...
I have written tens of civilized comments under this video, which are all deleted! This is my answer to a certain "georgekoro", who seems to be a nationalistic troll, as his TH-cam channel has no content at all and provides no info!
"""@georgeokoro1149 who am I? I am a Greek of Greek-Byzantine descent! My wife's family was an old Greek Constantinopolitan family that was living in Constantinople (today's Istanbul) for centuries. Just a century ago almost 300.000 Greeks (descendants of the Greek Byzantines) were living in Constantinople!
My ancestors and my wife's family were not some kind of immigrants in Constantinople, they were the original, predominant population of that glorious city and of all Asia Minor: Greek-Byzantines! And as I said, they were living for centuries in Constantinople till the Turks expelled them in 1964 and they were forced to come over to Athens, Greece. That's who I am my friend!
Who are you though and why you care so much that the Greek Byzantines be called "Romans"? Usually, the Turkish nationalists are promoting that kind of age nn ddaaa!"""
Eastern (Byzantine) Empire > Roman Empire
Roman Empire's biggest rival, Persia, also deserves a debate. Please make one!
Constantine named it something like New Rome
Roman Empire decayed from within , in fact immorality destroyed Roman Empire 😢
16:31 it’s always the climate
The fall of rome seems very comparable to the declining American hegemony in the world.
Please do Wakanda next!
Whens the empire fall? Stilicho enters the chat lol
True. After Stilicho it's just repeated strongman with vestigial emperors
@@DrFunkologist justinian tried, but you're 100% right in my opinion.
@@DrFunkologist how both emperors did stilicho and how they sold out to the barbarians was everything wrong with the late empire.
Imagine being Roman and finding out your emperor was picked because he had the most swords. It’s like choosing a CEO based on who has the most followers on Instagram.
it was reasonable, army was one of the most important gears of power especially in thouse tumultuous years of 3d century. Emperor had to be able to fight barbarians or persians and defend the borders
you know military coups are still a thing
It’s like deciding who leads a country based on how much money they have….oh wait.
Or why trump?
DONT GIVE THEM IDEAS
Attila having lunch with the pope in Rome starting with a Caesar salad 🥗
me at 2am
Rome fell for different reasons. Barbarian incursions, bad governing and for me the most important thing, their stubbornness to make changes in their political system. Unlike the Ottoman empire for example, that had a string of good Sultans in the beginning, the Romans had big highs followed soon after by terrible low lows.
The Vandals took the handles…Bob Dylan
there’s always a voice that says everything’s going downhill
Entropy has no limitations or boundaries....
Days since thinking about the Roman Empire: 0
this guy is fasinating
Fast forward to 2024 ad and the Roman Empire national soccer team has won 7 major international trophies and are ranked 8th in the world. Not bad, not bad.
Is he talking about USA/EU/NATO/Western empire? ... Sure sounds like it.
Did lex ask him how many times he thinks about the roman empire?
Hiring a lawyer! Speak up
TLDR; the moment you start giving non-romans jobs in the empire, the empire implodes and crumbles. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
the most roman thing, hardrians wall, is a boundary... wtf are these people talking about. i never watch this thank god
Who are you calling barbarians?!
The French, the Germans, the Brits etc. These peoples were called Barbarians by the Romans.
@@maaziy_ghaziyIYI How strange, nothing has changed , they are still barbarians
I think Justinian killed it in the sixth century
Both Diocetian and Constantine were Illyrians. Why do you keep avoiding that Illyrian component in the division of the Roman Empire? Probably in order to avoid the participation of the largest European tribe in history (even today), namely the Slavs.
That's right! The first Rome was Latin, the second was Greek, and the third is SLAVIC !
Just a thought, we need scholars to answer the questions about the collapse of the American empire, with a special focus upon the antiwhite elements leading to its downfall.
Routine win
🇦🇱
It ended in 1453 period. That was the fall of the last seat of Roman power. I don't care if Greek (hell Julius Cesears last words were actually in Greek) became the majority language. The culture was a continuation of the ever evolving "Roman" culture of the empire. The empire had one last major resurgence under Justinian with the reconquest of Italy, North Africa and Southern Hispania. A smaller resurgence with Basil II and another with Alexios Kominos. After the death of Justinian though it was basically a 1000 year free fall...kickstarted by Phocus who usurped Maurice, with the final end to it all being the fall of Nova Roma aka Constantinople, in 1453. The major contributor to the fall. ENDLESS F'ING CIVIL WARS AND SUCCESSION CRISES'. Wasn't immigration, wasn't inflation, wasn't anything but that. Civil Wars. Inflation crises and barbarian invasions were a symptom of periods of instability from....civil wars.
make sure to keep the role of the vatican, the franks, the crusades, the republic of venice for the trade routes, 1204 which left a city of half a million with 50000 to defend against the turks out of your whitewashed narrative.
and how the whole of europe run to the defence of Vienna but shrug their arms when it came to Constantinople.
because West: never in the wrong, always the good guys.
civil wars my ass
@@EliasTsakmakis A central and Eastern European coalition forces was crushed by the Ottomans in the battle of Varna (1444) and battle of Kosovo (1448) while France and Britain was in the conclusion of their "100 year war, " thus they were not able to provide any assistance.
Justinian over stretch the army of the Empire, prior to his reign was the true Golden age for the Byzantines from the reign of Marcian up until the reign of Anastasius when the treasury was constantly at a surplus and the borders of the Empire were well defended. Much of the Balkans and Greece was pretty much lost and devastated as a result of Justinian relocating much of the Balkan army to Italy, Slavic settlers literally just migrated to the now undefended Balkan borders and kicked out the tax paying Roman citizens from their farms and when the Avars enter the scene, towns and major forts also fell.
@@ronb7189 I am not so naïve or blindfolded to attribute the fall of the Eastern Empire exclusively to the actions of the western kingdoms and the power plays of the Vatican.
A thousand years Empire defending every inch of every border, literal or otherwise, will inevitably find itself plagued with a multitude of problems, including a literal Plague.
But lets not pretend that there was European love lost with the Fall of Constantinople or that since the Schism there weren't clear patterns of antagonistic to openly polemical behaviour for political and supposedly "spiritual" legitimacy between the Patriarchate and the Vatican.
And for the Historians who love to trace world tendencies and currents on singular events, the Empire was lost if anything else in Mantzikert.
The Europeans were more than happy to do what they repeatedly since have done, have someone else do their dirty work for them and look to arrange the outcome to their benefit.
@@ronb7189 And if you are still not convinced ask yourself if Russo phobia would not run so deep in western Europe if Russia had not picked up the banner of Orthodoxy declaring itself the Third Rome.
This is Europe and no matter how much they want to erase our historical memory we are dealing with relationships built over thousands of years.
It was 1 empire two empire is lie
This is an upgrade from your usual guests who tend to claim the Roman Empire fell because it turned gay.
Decadence. Its a "behavioral sink" out of the mouse utopia experiments. Its a stage in any population boom and crash of a mammals social order.