Anthony Kaldellis

Anthony Kaldellis is a historian specializing in the Roman Empire. He is the author of "The New Roman Empire," which provides a comprehensive history of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).

68 claims checked on air: 2 context 1 contradicted 1 overstated 46 supported 18 unverified 2 flagged

What they said on air - flagged

1:54:27contradictedhighThe Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empi

Approximately 2,500 senators were initially required to reside in Constantinople.

"I mentioned earlier that we have something like 2 and 1/2 thousand senators who are required initially to reside in Constantinople." (said at 1:54:27)

Historical scholarship contradicts the claim that roughly 2,500 senators were initially established or required to reside in Constantinople. When Constantine founded Constantinople, the eastern senatorial body was modest in size, numbering around 300 members (functioning more like a municipal council of *clari*). It was not until the reign of his successor, Constantius II (specifically the 350s CE), that the Senate of Constantinople underwent a major expansion—largely driven by orators and administrators such as Themistius—eventually growing to roughly 2,000 members to achieve institutional parity with the Roman Senate.

contradicts: The early development of the senate of Constantinople (Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 2008) · cited 83x in the literature
"The development of the senate of Constantinople as an imperial senate, on a par with the senate of Rome, has been attributed to Constantius II to the exclusion of Constantine and dated to 357. The present paper argues that the evidence for this dating is fundamentally flawed and that the decisive change came at the outset of the reign of Constantius II, while developments under Constantine foreshadowed it in significant respects." (abstract, passage verified)
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contradicts: Senators and senates (Cambridge University Press eBooks 1997) · cited 92x in the literature
"The most obvious institutional innovation of the fourth century was the creation of the senate of Constantinople. The new body did not spring fully formed from the head of the emperor Constantine, however, having at least three marked phases of development." (abstract, passage verified)
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5:13:35overstatedmoderateThe Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empi

When Seljuk Turks migrated into Asia Minor, they caused an ecological transformation by turning agricultural land into pasturage.

"because when they move into Asia Minor, they're transforming or terraforming agricultural land into pasturage." (said at 5:13:35)

The speaker references a long-standing historiographical thesis arguing that the arrival of Seljuk Turks and Türkmen nomads in medieval Anatolia led to widespread "nomadization" and the conversion of Byzantine arable farmland into pastoral rangeland. While Türkmen pastoral groups did introduce extensive transhumant pastoralism (utilizing seasonal summer pastures or yaylaks in mountainous and frontier regions), palaeoecological and environmental archaeological analyses indicate that this did not result in a total or uniform transformation of agricultural land. High-resolution sediment and pollen records from Anatolian lakes (such as Nar Gölü in Cappadocia) demonstrate that cereal-based agriculture persisted alongside pastoralism through the Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods rather than being displaced by pastureland.

contradicts: Historical landscape change in Cappadocia (central Turkey): a palaeoecological investigati… (The Holocene 2008) · cited 137x in the literature
"Pollen and charcoal data indicate four principal land-use phases: ... (iii) the re-establishment of cereal-based agriculture and pastoralism from c. AD 950, with this cultural landscape being maintained through the Byzantine `Golden Age', the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires" (abstract, passage verified)
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context: The Yörüks: Their Origins, Expansion and Economic Role (Cedrus 2014) · cited 30x in the literature
"Due to the nature of animal husbandry and seasonal migrations, conflict with the central government, Seljuk or Ottoman, was at times inevitable. Due to their activities against the East Roman Empire a heavy concentration of Türkmen formed in western Anatolia. ... The regions where a sizeable Türkmen population formed were the mountainous areas with yaylak, summer pastures, along the Toros mountain chain from western Anatolia to the coasts of the Mediterranean and in the Lake District in the Isparta-Eğirdir region." (abstract, passage verified)
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The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire | Lex Fridman Podcast #498Lex Fridman · as guest

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