The New Roman Empire Quotes

“The Second Commandment was not an obstacle because God himself had ordered Moses to decorate the tabernacle.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“the populace called her “Easter from the back but Lent from the front.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“He was a non-entity, said to have the qualities appropriate to a bishop, and spent much of his time “trying to compose iambic verses under the tutelage of Psellos.”67 None of his poems survive.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“though they could never achieve our society’s levels of inequality because the basis of their wealth remained land or gold, which were finite, unlike our “fiscal instruments” that conjure digital riches out of the ether.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“The patriarch refused to kiss the pope’s foot at their first meeting.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“By contrast, Ioannes V was reduced to humiliating beggary.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“For over forty years, Alexios vigorously defended his realm at the head of his armies.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“The fragmentation of the Balkans, Aegean, and Anatolia meant that no power could guarantee the safety of its subjects.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“No one had done more to entrench the Turks in the Balkans than Kantakouzenos.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“A second remarkable feature of the intellectual milieu was the emphasis that it placed on mathematics and astronomy.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“So the north collapsed too, leaving the Romans in control of only a coastal strip along the Sea of Marmara”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“was defeated by “Atman,” i.e., Osman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Meanwhile, the governor of Bithynia, Leon Mouzalon, in command of another Roman-Alan army of about 2,000 men,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Greece for him was located at the center of the world, and he even drew diagrams to illustrate the point.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Theodoros’ Hellenism was a national identity, combining culture, ethnic descent, and geography.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Theodoros routinely refers to his subjects as Hellenes and to his realm as Hellas,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“The sack of Constantinople further poisoned the relations between the Churches.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Rome’s belief that the papacy had the right to govern the entire Church, including the Church of Constantinople”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“After all, even the minor disputes quickly reduced to the question of who had the authority to resolve them,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“(both Churches claim both labels in their official names).”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Catholic” and “Orthodox” are modern terms of distinction”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Romanía was losing international prestige.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“The Romans had lost the entire northern Balkans, though they still held Dyrrachion in the far west.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“In late March, 1201, Kalojan conquered Varna on the Black Sea coast and buried his Roman captives alive in the siege pit.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“He blinded Andronikos’ sons as well as Alexios Komnenos, who incited the Normans.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“but he was still ruthless against those who threatened his throne.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Isaakios aspired to rule more gently and compensated the victims of his predecessor’s tyranny,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“Romanía was being chipped away at the edges.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“In such circumstances, Isaakios could implement no grand agenda like that of Manuel,”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium

“He faced no military rebellions, only attempted coups, mostly by relatives and in-laws.”
― Anthony Kaldellis, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium