Constantin , in terms of everything that's going on in the world at the moment, what are the
Constantine's conversion to Christianity, for example, right?
Constantine, what is your perspective on AI?
Constantine howkins and others he was very focused on the natural world in
founds Constantinople in 330 AD. East and West are split in 395 AD. Visigoths sack Rome in 410 AD. The West falls at 476 AD as the last Western
Chris Constantino opened a restaurant, nothing but offal in San Francisco.
What about So Constantin talked about these crosses in Sua in Spain.
Christian Romans in Constantinople who at first sight might have little to do with Latin-speaking, you know, non-Christians or worshiping the ancient gods, Romans from a
populace of Constantinople out to rally, to you know, maybe go to Hagia Sophia, the, the church, and just create a big crowd and call for the
Whereas in Constantinople, we don't have those kinds of institutions.
I'm Constantine Rousouli, a.k.a.
My name is actually Constantine Nicholas Karnazes.
as well as Professor Sarah Constantino, who's from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
There's a kind of convention in Constantinople, like if you... Sometimes you you think, "Hmm, that emperor's pretty unpopular and I think I can overthrow him." What you would
was captured during the Crusades from Constantinople or something like that at that time.
The printing press comes along just as Constantinople falls, flooding Europe with all these texts which people want to translate.
to study 20 years to be an actor thank you Constantin stanislavski but the
- Yeah. Had Constantine chosen his side a little less wisely, the world's going to be very different.
- Yeah, so Constantine is the guy who moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople, thereby giving a lot more focus to the east.
- And the Hippodrome is this big gathering place in Constantinople, which I guess a lot of people gathered at and did this kind of cheering or not cheering based on policy and-
And who we have here is the Ottoman sultan in Constantinople, Sultan Murad III,
...of the later Roman Empire is that that comes from mostly Diocletian and Constantine's reforms.
statistics. Something like 46% of the emperors of Constantinople are overthrown through violence. 46%. And that's almost half.
We've had Baghdad. We've had a Constantinople-- now Istanbul.
And what happened there, particularly in Constantinople, is they connected with the great trade routes, the Silk Road, and all of these spices coming in from the east.
presented by the state. 312 AD, Constantine defeats Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge to become the sole ruler of the western half of the empire, and then
- I mean, this is something you talk about. Constantine, as we'll get to him, is one of the most murderous leaders in all of human
- That's right. And the Islamic invasions of the seventh century, they couldn't get past that choke point of Constantinople. So they had to take the long way
And that part of the world. And it was an incredibly effective religion, Once Constantine converted.
- Yeah. - So its founding, 753 BC, to let's say the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD.
Very broadly, we can divide that into two phases, one where the center of power is in Rome, and one where it's in Constantinople.
In the 7th century, Heraclius defeats Persia and then loses against the Arabs. There's the Arab conquest continuing in the 7th century. In the 8th the Arab siege of Constantinople fails.
There's the Macedonian dynasty in that you have an excellent book about. And then the Crusades, and then eventually leading to Constantinople falling in 1453 AD.
And then there's the Fourth Crusade, 1204, when the armies from mostly France sack, conquer Constantinople, and dismember the empire as much as they could. It didn't last that long. The Romans managed to
that's serious, and that can happen out in the provinces too. That doesn't necessarily have to happen in Constantinople. There's also Hagia
Sophia, so the people gather in the church, or they gather in public spaces like the Forum of Constantine.
- And we should say, going to Perplexity here, the Hippodrome of Constantinople was the main stadium and social center of the Byzantine capital,
mechanisms of that. - So if we can, before we go to Emperor Constantine the First and the founding of Constantinople, can we look at some
all from the provinces. And so a century later, when Constantinople is created, this is, it's created, right, like, in, in the Bosporus, so, like, where modern Istanbul is,
Steve, uh, what do you think in terms of what Constantine said to me? What he said that he thinks there's civil unrest
we're failing on all sorts of fronts and the UK is not a booming economy? You you've often said, Constantine, that we're spending too much money.
around. And and so I think those are some of the differences in productivity as well. I'll agree with Constantine that America does have that can do
So you get that but gradually the empires come to a crisis, they start crumbling, they adopt the world religions, Confucianism in China, Ashoka adopts Buddhism, Constantine