Lex Fridman · Constantine's ruthless rise to power as emperor of the new Roman Empire | Anthony Kaldellis

1. 1. Constantine emerged as the sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324 after a series of civil wars.
2. 2. Constantine founded Constantinople on the site of Byzantium in 330 AD, intended as a New Rome in the East.
3. 3. Constantinople's location was strategically chosen to be halfway between the Danube and Euphrates frontiers, allowing emperors to respond to threats on both fronts.
4. 4. Constantinople functioned as a clamp that prevented the empire from breaking at the Bosphorus, shifting the division point to the Adriatic.
5. 5. Constantine murdered his own son Crispus and his wife shortly after defeating Licinius, for reasons that remain unknown.
6. 6. Kaldellis ranks Constantine as the number one Byzantine emperor because his decisions—founding Constantinople and converting to Christianity—were world-history-level consequential.