The Nika riots (Greek: Στάση του Νίκα), or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 532. It was the most violence Constantinople had ever seen to that point, with nearly half the city being burned or destroyed and roughly 30,000 dead. Map of Constantinople. ... Events First year in which Anno Domini calendar is actually used for numbering (in Dionysius Exiguuss treatise) January 11 - Nika riots in Constantinople; the cathedral is destroyed. ...

Background

Site of the hippodrome in Istanbul

The ancient Roman and Byzantine Empires had well-developed associations which supported the different factions (or teams) under which competitors in certain sporting events competed; this was particularly true of chariot racing. There were four major factional teams of chariot racing, differentiated by the colour of the uniform in which they competed; the colours were also worn by their supporters. These were the Blues, the Reds, the Greens, and the Whites, although by the Byzantine era the only teams with any influence were the Blues and Greens. The emperor Justinian I was a supporter of the Blues, the Orthodox team. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 44 KB) Summary Site of the hippodrome in Istanbul. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 44 KB) Summary Site of the hippodrome in Istanbul. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek and Roman sports. ... // Overview Byzantine Dress changed vastly over the centuries. ... Justinian depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ...

The team associations had become a focus for various social and political issues for which the general Byzantine population lacked other forms of outlet. They combined aspects of street gangs and political parties, taking positions on current issues, notably religion and disputes between claimants to the throne. They frequently tried to affect the policy of the Emperors by shouting political demands between the races. The imperial forces and guards in the city could not keep order without the cooperation of the circus factions which were in turn backed by the powerful aristocratic families of the city: this included some families who believed they had a more rightful claim to the throne than Justinian. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... // Political scientists have developed concepts of different ideal types of political parties in order to better compare them with each other. ...

Setting the stage for the revolt, in 531 some members of the Blues and Greens had been arrested for murder in connection with deaths that occurred during rioting after a recent chariot race. Relatively limited riots were not unknown at chariot races, similar to the mayhem that erupts after a soccer or basketball championship in modern times. The murderers were to be hanged, and most of them were. But on January 10, 532, two of them, a Blue and a Green, escaped and were taking refuge in the sanctuary of a church surrounded by an angry mob. Events End of the reign of Northern Wei Chang Guang Wang, ruler of the Chinese Northern Wei Dynasty. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Sara Giauro shoots a three-point shot, FIBA Europe Cup for Women Finals 2005. ... January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events First year in which Anno Domini calendar is actually used for numbering (in Dionysius Exiguuss treatise) January 11 - Nika riots in Constantinople; the cathedral is destroyed. ... Ajax prepares to violate the sanctuary of Athena by abducting Cassandra by force: red-figure vase, c. ...

Justinian was nervous: he was in the midst of negotiating with the Persians over peace in the east, there was enormous resentment over high taxes, and now he faced a potential crisis in his city. Facing this, he declared that a chariot race would be held on January 13 and commuted the sentences to imprisonment. The Blues and Greens responded by demanding that the two men be pardoned entirely. The Sassanid Empire in the time of Shapur I; the conquest of Cappadocia was temporary Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian) Dominant Religion Zoroastrianism Capital Ctesiphon Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr) First Ruler Ardashir I Last Ruler Yazdegerd III Establishment 224 AD Dissolution 651 AD Part of the History of... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The riots

A map of the palace quarter and the hippodrome

On January 13 a tense and angry populace arrived at the Hippodrome for the races. The Hippodrome was next to the palace complex and thus Justinian could watch from the safety of his box in the palace and preside over the races. From the start the crowd had been hurling insults at Justinian. By the end of the day, at race 22, the partisan chants had changed from "Blue" or "Green" to a unified "Nika" (a Greek exhortation meaning to "win", "conquer", or "achieve victory"), and the crowds broke out and began to assault the palace. For the next five days the palace was under virtual siege. Image File history File links Constantinople_center. ... Image File history File links Constantinople_center. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hippodrome today The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a horse-racing track that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire and the largest city in Europe. ...

Some of the senators saw this as an opportunity to overthrow Justinian, as they were opposed to his new taxes and his lack of support for the nobility. The rioters, now armed and probably controlled by their allies in the Senate, also demanded that Justinian dismiss the prefect John the Cappadocian, who was responsible for tax collecting, and the quaestor Tribonian, who was responsible for rewriting the legal code. They then declared a new emperor, Hypatius, who was a nephew of former Emperor Anastasius I. The Byzantine Senate was a nominal continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries but was increasingly irrelevant until its eventual disappearance in the 13th century. ... A prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficere: make in front, i. ... John the Cappadocian was a prefect in the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. John was appointed to lead the first commission on Justinians new legal code, the Corpus Juris Civilis, and became Justinians chief legal advisor. ... Quaestores were elected officials of the Roman Republic who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers. ... Tribonian (c. ... Justinian I depicted on a mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy The Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) also known as Codex Justinianus is a fundamental work in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. ... Hypatius was a Byzantine noble of imperial descent who was positioned as commander in the east in the days of Justin I, where he lost many important battles, and later became senator. ... Flavius Anastasius or Anastasius I (c. ...

Justinian, in despair, considered fleeing, but his wife Theodora is said to have dissuaded him, stating that, although an escape route across the sea lay open for the emperor, she herself would stay in the city, thereby quoting an ancient saying that "Royalty is a fine burial shroud".^[1] Justinian had his generals Belisarius and Mundus suppress the revolt on January 18, which they did with much bloodshed by trapping the rebels in the Hippodrome. Theodora, detail of a Byzantine mosaic in Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna. ... Belisarius is thought to be the figure to the right of Emperor Justinian I in the mosaic in the Church of San Vitale Ravenna that celebrates the reconquest of Italy, performed by the Byzantine army under the skillful leadership of Belisarius himself. ... Mundus (died 536) was a Byzantine general during the reign of Justinian I. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he was originally a Hunnic mercenary. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

About thirty thousand rioters were reportedly killed. Justinian also had Hypatius executed and exiled the senators who had supported the riot.

Notes

The riots in fiction

• Theodora and the Emperor (1952) by Harold Lamb is a historical fiction novel that follows the events of the Nika riots closely, using timelines and characters based on historical documents.

• Count Belisarius (1938) by Robert Graves follows the career of the general Belisarius and recounts the build-up of tension and the riots in some detail.

• The Guy Gavriel Kay fantasy novel Sailing to Sarantium depicts a revolt inspired by, and very similar to, the Nika riots.

• David Drake's novel Counting the Cost retells it as science fiction in the Hammer's Slammers setting, with a very gritty, grunt's-eye view of the fighting.

• Jerry Pournelle's novel The Mercenary (latter integrated into Falkenberg's Legion ) also retells it as science fiction in the CoDominium setting, as much from a political as military standpoint.

• The Blue and The Green, a story-line in British science fiction television series The Tomorrow People, also used the Nika riots as its basis.

• In the Heart of Darkness by David Drake and Eric Flint, an alternate history novel from the Belisarius Series, has an alternate version of the Nika riots.

• An episode of History Bites revolves around the riots, showing news reports with "Ted Koppelinople" about the riots, and showing humour in how Theodora was reputedly the real power behind Justinian's throne.

Harold Albert Lamb (1892 - 1962) was an American historian and novelist. ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, where the time the action takes place in predates the time of the first publication -- distinguish and contrast the genre of alternate history. ... Count Belisarius is a historical novel by Robert Graves, first published in 1938, recounting the life of the Byzantine general Belisarius. ... Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 5 November 1955) was an English poet, scholar, and novelist. ... Belisarius is thought to be the figure to the right of Emperor Justinian I in the mosaic in the Church of San Vitale Ravenna that celebrates the reconquest of Italy, performed by the Byzantine army under the skillful leadership of Belisarius himself. ... Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction. ... The Sarantine Mosaic is a historical high fantasy duology by Guy Gavriel Kay, comprising Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors. ... David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy literature. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Hammers Slammers is the title of a 1979 collection of military science fiction short stories by author David Drake (and, by extension, of the fictional universe in which these and a number of Drakes other stories and novels are set). ... Jerry Pournelle at the 2006 Stanford Singularity Summit Jerry Pournelle, (born August 7, 1933) is an American essayist, journalist and science fiction author who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte. ... The Prince is a science fiction compilation by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling. ... The fictional CoDominium universe is a future history (now alternate history) setting for the books in the CoDominium Series by Jerry Pournelle. ... // The Tomorrow People is a childrens science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price and produced by Thames Television for Britains ITV network between 1973 and 1979, and revived for a five-season series in the 1990s. ... David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy literature. ... Eric Flint (born California, USA, 1947) is an American science fiction and fantasy author and editor. ... Alternate history (fiction) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Belisarius Series is a collection of novels written by David Drake and Eric Flint and published by Baen Books. ... History Bites was a television series on the History Television network that ran from 1998-2003. ... Photo by Bob DAmico/ABC Ted Koppel, anchor of the ABC News program Nightline. ...

External links

• Procopius, "Justinian Suppresses the Nika Revolt, 532", from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
• J. B. Bury, "The Nika Revolt", chapter XV part 5 from History of the Later Roman Empire (1923).
• James Grout: "The Nika Riot", part of the Encyclopædia Romana

Procopius (in Greek Προκόπιος, c. ... The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies and is part of the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies (ORB). ... John Bagnell Bury (16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an eminent British historian, classical scholar, and philologist. ...

See also

• List of riots
• Hooliganism