What would happen if you combined soccer hooliganism with street gangs and political parties? You would get something like the Nika Revolt of 532. The revolt occurred in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Justinian I is considered the greatest Byzantine emperor. He had taken the throne in 527 and was not accepted by many because he was not from the upper class. In his first four years, he had made a lot of enemies. He increased taxes and instituted reforms against corruption that stepped on noble toes. He was also involved in a losing war with Persia. So, there was a lot of anger in the city. Now, let’s throw sports fanaticism into the mix
In the 6th Century, the most popular sport was chariot racing. The stadium in Constantinople was called the Hippodrome. It held 100,000 spectators. The chariot racers were divided into four teams – the Reds, the Whites, the Blues, and the Greens. Fans were rabid and not only wore their team’s colors and rooted for them, but they formed street gangs based on the teams. It was not uncommon for fights to break out between different colors’ fans. In 531, one of those brawls resulted in murders. A bunch of Blue and Green fans were convicted and sentenced to death. On the day of the executions, a Blue and a Green managed to escape and take refuge in a church. A mob surrounded the church demanding pardon for the two. Justinian promised to commute the sentences to imprisonment, but that did not go far enough.
On Jan. 13, 532, the usual chariot races were held. Between races, it was normal for the crowds to yell their colors to support their team. They also would yell out policy “suggestions” to the emperor who would be in his box connected to his palace. Suggestions like “your taxes suck!” This day, the Blues and Greens were unified in chanting “Nika! Nika!” (meaning “victory”, or in this case “conquer”). A full-blown riot broke out and Justinian and his family were besieged in the palace as the mob trashed the city. Nobles were pulling some of the strings to use the situation to depose the hated emperor. The police headquarters was taken and prisoners were freed. Fires were started all over the city. It was so bad that Justinian prepared to flee the city. His remarkable wife Theodora stiffened his spine by refusing to leave. After four days of mayhem, the nobles planned to crown a relative of the last emperor as the new ruler. The ceremony was being held in the Hippodrome. Justinian sent his most trusted eunuch to the stadium with a bag of gold. The eunuch went to the Blues and greased the palms of their leaders. He also reminded them that the Blues were Justinian’s favorite team. When the crowning ceremony began, most of the Blues got up and left. This was the signal for the army, under the great general Belisarius, to enter and slaughter everyone in the arena. This ended the revolt. At least 30,000 people were dead. Half of the buildings in the city were destroyed or damaged by the fires. The great church Hagia Sophia was burned to the ground. But on the plus side, Justinian was now firmly on the throne and could continue his government reforms with no opposition from the nobility. He rebuilt Hagia Sophia into one of the outstanding churches (now a mosque) in the world. So, next time you hear a person say that people take sports too seriously, just tell them this story. But don’t tell it to a soccer hooligan, it will make them try to up their game. Today is the anniversary of the birth of Alexander Hamilton. You know, the guy in the play. Here are some interesting facts about this fascinating Founding Father.
https://historyonthisday.com/events/byzantine-empire/nika-revolt/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-nika-revolt-1788557
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