Weird History: The 532 CE Nika Chariot Riots and the Burning of Constantinople

Luke Leftwich - Junior, Copy Editor | Columns

In its prime, the Byzantine capital of Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in all of Europe, famous for the Hippodrome, a sporting circus and the center of all entertainment in Constantinople. As an outlet for popular sports and chariot racing, the Hippodrome could hold over 100,000 passionate spectators after its 324 CE expansion by Constantine the Great.

Two hundred years later, the city of Constantinople was ruled by Emperor Justinian I, an enthusiastic member of the Blues, one of the four major chariot racing factions of the Hippodrome. During the Byzantine era, the Blues and Greens were major rivals, and the Whites and Reds faded into obscurity as the Blues and Greens absorbed them and were left in seats of power and influence over the Hippodrome’s chariot racing scene.

While the chariot racing factions (called demes) appeared similar to sports teams, they were actually more similar to political parties, taking stances on various social, political, and religious issues of the time. The Blues traditionally represented the ruling classes and religious orthodoxy, while the Greens represented the people and challenged the Byzantine religious orthodoxy.

In 501, the first example of marked violence between the Blues and Greens was seen in a Constantinople amphitheater, where 3,000 Blues were massacred by a violent group of Greens. In the city of Antioch, a 507 riot was caused after Porphyrius, who had raced for both the Blues and Greens before, won a race for the Greens.

The inter-faction violence sometimes even devolved into arson, as highlighted in two rhymes that were chanted by the factions:

“Burn here, burn there, not a Green anywhere. Set alight, set alight, not a Green in sight.”

In 531, tensions between the two factions and Justinian were especially high after the failed execution of a Blue and a Green arrested for being ringleaders of a riot. After the failed executions, an angry mob took the two men to the sanctuary of a church, where they could rest in safety from Justinian and the law.

To lower tensions between the factions and himself, Justinian declared that a chariot race would be held in three days, and decided to ease the sentences of the escaped faction members to imprisonment, rather than execution. However, this only proved to further complicate the situation after both factions demanded that both men be pardoned.

On January 13, 532, an angry audience arrived at the Hippodrome for the races, which was directly next to the imperial palace where Justinian watched the races from his box. Before the first race had begun, the crowd was insulting Justinian, taunting him for implementing high taxes on the rich Blues while lamenting him for abandoning the Greens by supporting the rival Blues.

Unified against Justinian, the crowd broke out yelling “Nika!” (or “Victory!”) before beginning to assault the imperial palace. For the next five days, the palace was under siege, and nearly half of the city was destroyed, including the world-famous cathedral Hagia Sophia, which was rebuilt for the third time after the riot’s end. Ultimately, the riot resulted in the deaths of 30,000 total faction members from both the Blues and Greens.