Research Seminar: How to Survive the Middle Ages

No state managed to survive through the whole of the Middle Ages while also preserving its identity, institutions, laws, religious doctrines, and capital city — except the eastern Roman empire, also known as Byzantium. The interesting part of its history was not its “decline and fall,” but resilience and survival. But how did east Rome survive for this long? The nature of its armies were a key factor, but what enabled them to function as they did? Professor Kaldellis will discuss the social and institutional aspects of this success story, drawing on his recent history, The New Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2023).

Anthony Kaldellis is the Gaylord Donnelly Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago in the USA. He researches the history, culture, and literature of the east Roman empire from antiquity to the fifteenth century. His most recent books are The New Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2023) and The Field Armies of the Eastern Roman Empire, 361-630 AD,co-authored with Marion Kruse (Cambridge University Press, 2023).