On this date… 13 January 532
Nika Riot in Constantinople begins
Imagine cheering on your favorite sporting event from the stands (or at home, as most people do nowadays). You’re thrilled when the person or team scores a point, makes a great play, or otherwise does something exciting, including winning. You’re upset when their opponent gets the upper hand or wins. Obviously the referee used their influence to unduly affect the outcome you’ll scream if your team or player loses (look at every NFL game and commentary nowadays, for example). Now imagine that you and some friends were so incensed with everyone involved with the other team that you straight up started a riot.
Well, you don’t have to imagine it. It happened with the Nika Riot (sometimes called the Nika Revolt) in Constantinople (not Istanbul) on 13 January 532, which set the city ablaze and threatened the very foundations of the Eastern Roman Empire, as the Byzantine Empire styled itself.
The revolt began as a conflict between two political factions, the Blues and the Greens. They were initially formed as chariot racing teams but gradually evolved into powerful gangs with significant influence, serving many civic and religious functions, including a de facto police force to keep order along with the official guards. The factions were named after the colors of the charioteers' uniforms in the Hippodrome, the central venue for chariot racing in the city.
The Hippodrome was also the traditional venue where the general populace could, in some respect, interact with the Emperor, voicing their support or discontent on political and social matters. Often between races they would shout political demands in an attempt to influence imperial policy.
The Greens and Blues frequently brawled after chariot races, and like an occasional Philadelphia Eagles game nowadays, deaths weren’t uncommon. That’s exactly what happened after the races on 10 January, and the Emperor Justinian I sent soldiers to quell the violence. The city prefect then rounded up seven of the ringleaders, Blue and Green alike, and sentenced them to death. But something went wrong.
The first five executions went off without a hitch, but the last two – a Blue and a Green – slipped their nooses and escaped to a church across the river. Imperial guards surrounded the church, trapping the two men inside.
They remained there for three days. During the races on 13 January the crowds shouted at Justinian to show mercy on the two men, demanding that he pardon them. The emperor did not respond. Justinian had become Emperor in 527 and was not universally acclaimed. Both he and his wife Theodora were of low birth, which rankled the political elite, and he tried enacting numerous civil, military, and religious reforms. Some of those reforms included curbing the power of the factions, which did not sit well with them. The general populace loathed him too, incensed with the rampant corruption of his officials, his virulent crackdowns on non-Christians, and most of all, his fondness for taxation. Races did cost a lot to run, after all. As did the massive building programs he launched.
Angry, the mob continued to shout demands. That evening, the factions united, using the code word Nika, “conqueror” or “victory,” to start rioting. They burned buildings and further increased their demands for the resignation of three unpopular ministers. In response, Justinian ordered more races, thinking that would mollify the crowd. It instead had the opposite effect, causing even more destruction.
Over the next five days much of the city burned, including the great cathedral of Hagia Sophia. Some political elites also formed a cabal in an attempt to overthrow Justinian, and even proclaimed a new emperor, Hypatius, a nephew of former Emperor Anastasius I. The violence and destruction was so bad that Justinian contemplated fleeing the city. It was his wife Theodora who reportedly said “Royal purple makes a fine burial shroud,” which inspired Justinian to stay.
Justinian dispatched two of his best generals, Belisarius and Mundus, into the crowds at the Hippodrome. There they used the army to trap the rioters inside and slaughtered as many as 30,000 people. Justinian later executed the pretend emperor Hypatius. Order restored and political enemies destroyed, Justinian ruled for another 33 years until he died in 565. Never again did the Green or Blues have as much political power, retaining only vestiges of their ceremonial functions during the rest of the Byzantine period. So much for violent sports.