January 13: Riot at Chariot Race
On 13 January 532 CE, an angry mob of people showed up at a chariot race that took place next to the emperor’s palace.
The Ancient Roman and Byzantine empires had well developed associations known as the Demes that supported different factions of sporting teams. These were known as the Blues, Reds, Greens, and whites. They held their own political views and were similar to that of today’s political parties and gangs.
In 531 two men, a Blue and a Green were arrested in Constantinople for a murder that took place in an earlier riot. A year later in 532, the men were sentenced to imprisonment, but the Blues and Greens responded with demands that the men be pardoned and set free.
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On January 13, an angry mob began to chant and assault the palace where emperor Justinian watched the races from. With their demands not met, the rioters started fires that ended up burning down much of the city. Members of the senate saw this as an opportunity to overthrow the emperor and reverse new taxes that were put into place. Justinian negotiated with the blues and payed them in gold coins to leave. Once they agreed, Justinian ordered his imperial army to kill off the remaining thirty thousand rioters and execute the supporting senators. After the riot, Justinian was free to rule a united Roman empire and rebuild Constantinople.
–Dominic Mazzola
Fun Fact: It was Justinian’s wife, the Empress Theodora, who saved the day. The Emperor wanted to run away, and could have but:
“If you, my lord,” she told him,
wish to save your skin, you will have no difficulty in doing so. We are rich, there is the sea, there too are our ships. But consider first whether, when you reach safety, you will regret that you did not choose death in preference. As for me, I stand by the ancient saying: the purple is the noblest winding-sheet.”
If you would like to know more about her, go to http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/blue-versus-green-rocking-the-byzantine-empire-