Blues v Greens: How did the factions influence Byzantium?

The Nika Revolt, which took place in the city of Constantinople in 532 AD, is a historical phenomenon that has an important place in the history of the Byzantine Empire with its reflections on political and social life. When considering the reasons that led people to riot long before the revolt, it is seen that the environment that prepared the ground for these reasons was the chariot races organized in the hippodromes. After gladiator fights were banned, “contests with wild beats were forbidden; citizens were no longer permitted to hold nocturnal feats”, chariot races became one of the few social activities of the people of Constantinople. In fact, these races were so socially influential that they are the subject of various pottery works exhibited in the British Museum today. For example, the pottery with a charioteer in the image is made in Attica, Greece between 410 AD and 400 AD.

While the fans of the competitors in the chariot races were initially divided into four groups, two of these factions gained more power than the others, eventually reducing them to two demes, known as the Blues and Greens. As a result of the responsibilities assigned to them by the government, such as guard service or the maintenance of the defensive walls, these factions have become not only groups of sports fans but also semi-political parties. The Blues were the party of large landowners, while the Greens represented industry and commerce.

Not only did the Blues and Greens factions have some political impact, almost dethroning the Emperor at that time, but under the leadership of the Emperor's successor, Justin - also Justinian's uncle - the Blues faction had gained the support of the king himself. Justinian's period of dominance began when Justin appointed his nephew to the position of Patrician. After a while, he met his future wife and Empress Theodora. According to John Julius Norwich, undoubtedly one of the most outspoken disparagements of an Empress was written by her contemporary Procopius for Theodora. Procopius is a Roman historian of the 6th century, and author of the Anecdota, now known as Secret History. He claims that “even at this early age she submitted to the buggery of slaves who accompanies their masters to the theater, but once she matured into a woman she became a prostitute”. Two years after Justinian and Theodora's marriage, Justinian's uncle died, and Theodora and Justinian became the rulers of Byzantium. Like his uncle, Justinian and his wife Theodora supported the Blue faction. Justinian was not a very popular Empress. Public resentment against Justinian and John was growing exponentially due to the endless wars, the increase in taxes collected from the people, and the introduction of new taxes by Justinian's appointee John of Cappadocia.

On January 13, 532, when Justinian took his place in the Hippodrome and started the chariot races, for the first time in history the Blues and Greens united and chanted "Nika! Nika!", meaning "Win! Win!" in unison. The supporters' groups, who until that day had always tried to drown out each other's voices, were that day calling out to the Emperor as if in protest. As a result, the races were canceled and the mob left the Hippodrome, determined to burn down every building in their path. They burned the palace of the City Prefect, the Praetorian Prefecture, the Senate House, and the two Great Churches of St Eirene and St Sophia. Returning to the Hippodrome the next day, the plebs demanded the dismissal of all the administrators, whom they saw as the culprits of the cost of living. Not content with that, they even tried to put Hypatius, the great-nephew of the previous emperor, on the throne. Meanwhile, in the Daphne Palace behind the Hippodrome, Justinian and Theodora observed the angry mob. Justinian had already ordered preparations to be completed to flee the capital if necessary, but the empress Theodora had no intention of doing so and, according to the history books, she uttered her famous words to dissuade Justinian from fleeing like a coward. “It was a splendid speech. This was a proud empress who had climbed from the dregs of society to the peak of the social order, and she would die rather than slide down the ladder again.” After this speech, whether they wanted to or not, they decided that the only way to stop this uprising was by massacre, and led by two of the best generals, Belisarius and Mundus, the thousands who were in the Hippodrome that day were slaughtered regardless of which faction they belonged to. The massacre left about 30,000 dead. When it was Hypatius' turn and Justinian was about to show signs of mercy, Theodora intervened and decreed that he too should be executed. The Nika revolt was the bloodiest the city had ever seen, but it would not be fair to say that the consequences were only bad, at least for Justinian.

Having consolidated his authority, Justinian began his attempts to rebuild the city, which had been reduced to ashes after about a week of riots, and started with the church of St. Sophia. However, the new church was nothing like its predecessors. “First, it was to be infinitely larger – far and away the largest religious building in the entire Christian world.” The church of St. Sophia is one of the most important monuments that shed light on the religious, political, and architectural life of Byzantium at that time.

On that day, if Theodora had not prevented them from fleeing, the history of the world would not have witnessed anything other than St. Sophia: The Code of Justinian. Justinian not only rebuilt civilization but also gave civilization its law because “the principle of civilization was the body of law through the observance of which men became civilized, and in which their civilization consisted”. While not a new legal code, the Code of Justinian brings together centuries of past Roman statues and the great opinions of the great Roman jurists. Moreover, Justinian conquered territories in North Africa, Italy, and Spain and expanded the borders of the empire.

To conclude, the Blue and Green factions, which originated as fan groups in chariot races, brought almost the entire city to the brink of destruction with their Nika Revolt, which had to be suppressed with bloodshed and had political consequences in terms of strengthening the authority of Emperor Justinian. Theodora, who made Justinian abandon his plan to flee, also has an important place in the history of both Byzantium and Constantinople. Moreover, at the end of the revolt, the Church of St. Sophia, known today as Hagia Sophia, was rebuilt unlike its predecessors, and became one of the cultural and religious icons of the city of Constantinople. These factions became not only a sports fan group, but also a quasi-political party, integrated into political life, and if led to their demise, they displayed the first example of hooliganism. In this respect, the world has not made much progress since the outbreak of the Nika Revolt. It is even possible to associate chariot races with soccer, the most popular sport today, and factions with soccer teams. Politics often interferes in sports, and there are examples of hooliganism at matches. It is not hard to see how politicians can manipulate groups of blindly loyal supporters of anything and then, when they are done, fail to respond to their demands. In other words, it is still possible to observe the reflections of historical events and factions in different ways rather than under the headings of Blues and Greens.

Bibliography

“Code of Justinian,” Britannica, November 9, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Code-of-Justinian

G. P. Baker, Justinian: The Last Roman Emperor (New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002), 100.

H. B. Walters et al., Vase / Catalogue of Vases in the British Museum (London: BMP, 1893-1925).

James Allan Evans, The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004), 45-46.

John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), 57.

Procopius, The Anecdota or Secret History, trans. Henry Bronson Dewing (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935), 9.8-26.