From a day at the races to 30,000 dead (The Nika riots)

[Heliodromus]

A recent post about the Circus Maximus reminds me of the other Circus Maximus, the Hippodrome of Constantinople (aka Circus Maximus Constantinopitanus to you Latin speakers), which I'd been gathering a few photos of while researching something else.

The Byzantium hippodrome had originally been built by Septimius Severus, but was then renovated by Constantine I when he expanded the city to become his new capital, renaming it after himself. It wasn't quite as large as Rome's Circus Maximus, but nothing to sneeze at with a capacity for 100,000 spectators, and clearly important with a central location in the city and connected to the imperial palace.

The Constantinople hippodrome had been modeled after the one in Rome, with a similar central spina adorned with Obelisks and cones. It still survives today in form of Sultanahmet Square where three of these spina monuments still stand.

Here's a model of how the city would have looked around the time of Constantine, to give an idea of the scale and positioning of the hippodrome. This is the view looking east, with the Golden Horn (inlet from the Bosphorus) running horizontal at top of the picture. In Byzantine times there was a massive defensive chain, almost a mile long, across the Golden Horn that could be raised as a naval defense!

Here is a sketch from 1580 of what remained of the Hippodrome at that time.

And here's how it looks today.

So, back to my title...

Chariot racing in Rome was based around four competing teams, the Reds, Whites, Greens and Blues. The origins of these teams seems uncertain, but over time they seem to have gained socio-political associations.

By the time of Justinian I, the four teams had coalesced into two - the Blues and Greens, and these factions had become increasingly violent. In one incident in 501 AD the Greens apparently snuck weapons into the hippodrome and attacked the Blues, with around 3,000 spectators being killed !!

In another incident in 531 AD members of both groups, Greens and Blues, had been arrested for a murder following the races, and a number of them had been sentenced to death, but some escaped. Amid ongoing political unrest, partly based on excessive taxation, Justinian had commuted the death sentences of the escapees, and declared new races to be held in January of 532 AD. It's not clear exactly what happened at these races, but apparently the Blues and Greens, normally fierce rivals, united and instead of chanting for their teams instead united in chanting "Nika! Nika!" (Conquor! Conquor!) calling for the ouster of Justinian. This escalates into a 5 day siege of the attached imperial palace, and Justinian eventually calling in his generals to try to defuse/resolve the situation, which lead to imperial troops storming the hippodrome and a death toll of 30,000 (maybe some by trampling).

This incident is referred to as "The Nika riots", due to the chants of the Blue/Green mob.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/blue-versus-green-rocking-the-byzantine-empire-113325928/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots

 

Edited October 23, 2024 by Heliodromus

[ominus1]

..just from the title....Justinian....he's got credit for the plague too...^^

[porphyrogenita]

The reign of Justinian got me into ancient coins and I've always found the Nika riots supremely interesting; I actually wrote my college admissions essay on Theodora's excellent speech where she convinced her husband not to flee Constantinople! "Royalty is a fine burial shroud" is a hell of a quote :))

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

What a disaster.

I do love that part of the city

 When I was last in Istanbul I stayed at a hostel built right into the Theodosian walls. On the roof was a biergarden with an excellent view of the Bosporus.

Edited October 24, 2024 by Ancient Coin Hunter