By: Abbie Berthiaume
Contemporary sports are no stranger to excessive violence, both on and off the field. While off-field sports violence generally amounts to bar fights and property damage, a number of sports riots have had disastrous outcomes. Although these riots are generally ignited by actual sporting events, there are usually more intricate and vital political factors that provoke this violence. In 1955, The Richard Riot was largely concerned with the suspension of Maurice Richard but was perhaps more significantly a catalyst for Anglophone/Francophone tensions in Canada. Perhaps unexpectedly, the most significant case of politically-affiliated sports violence dates back to the Byzantine Empire. As far back as January of 532 C.E., the Nika Riot marks the largest recorded sports riot. Having been documented by historians like Prokopios and Malalas, modern historians are left with a thorough account of the events.
During the early Byzantine period, sports and other such spectacles had become official public entertainment. Because the rise of Christianity looked unfavorably upon the tradition of grotesque gladiatorial events, charioteering became the sport of choice for Constantinople’s citizens. These events often served both cultural and political purposes wherein political partisanship was often tied to different circus factions. At this point in time, the factions were represented by colors; the Blues and Greens dominating the arena. It was previously theorized that the Blues represented the ruling class and religious orthodoxy whereas the Greens were akin to a people’s party; however this interpretation has been criticized by many historians, leaving us with an unclear understanding of these factions.What we do know is that the primary conflict behind the Nika riot surrounded the relationship between the Emperor, the Blue faction, and the Green faction. On the morning of January 10th, the city's prefect had arrested multiple members of both parties for violent actions. While most of the arrested citizens were executed, a member from each faction survived and escaped. Three days later, a charioteering match was held; given the discursive and political nature of these events, this was an opportunity for the factions to ask that the Emperor forgive the crimes of the escaped convicts. The Emperor did not respond. Consequently, the Blues and Greens temporarily allied themselves in an explosive act of rebellion.
Unlike Rome, Byzantine sports often featured more violence in the stands than in the arenas themselves; the Nika Riot serves as a hyperbolic demonstration of this. On the morning of the 13th, this rioting would rapidly spread outside the Hippodrome and envelop the entire city; the authorities quickly lost control over the situation as buildings went up in flames. As the fires grew, so did participating members. While the riots were initially a matter of circus factions, the aristocratic class became important perpetrators of this violence — cementing the riots as a political rebellion against the Emperor himself. For the aristocrats, the dissent was largely concerned with the Emperor’s taxation policies. Having tightened tax collection efforts and having revised legislation that enabled loopholes within the tax collection system, Emperor Justinian had inadvertently created a league of angry aristocrats. Hence, the riots became increasingly political in nature, denoting not only faction grievances, but broader gripes surrounding Justinian's economic policies.
While “Nika” (an emic term used by the rioters) means ‘victory’ or ‘conquest’, the riots would be remembered as a grisly tragedy. Having taken between 30,000 and 35,000 lives, the Nika riots proved to be history's largest and most devastating sports riot. In addition to its shocking death toll, the event destroyed a great deal of the city’s architecture. Having eventually led to the restoration of damaged buildings, as well as the erection of new ones, the effects of the riots can still be observed within the 21st century. While modern people still share certain traditions with our Roman ancestors (eating snacks while we watch shows, drinking beer, and all the other ones of course) I, for one, am relieved to note the changes that have been made towards sporting traditions.
References
Haldon, John, ed. The social history of Byzantium. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Giatsis, Sotiris G. "The Massacre in the Riot of Nika in the Great Hippodrome of Constantinople in 532 AD." (1995): 141-152.
Magazine, Smithsonian. “Blue versus Green: Rocking the Byzantine Empire.” Smithsonian.com, March 2, 2012. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/blue-versus-green-rocking-the-byzantine-empire-113325928/.