Podcasts · The Story of Turkey: From Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire to Today — Fexingo History
The Hippodrome: Where Constantinople Played
· 10 min · S4 E197
Episode The Hippodrome: Where Constantinople Played
Before the Blue and Green factions tore Byzantium apart, the Hippodrome was the beating heart of Constantinople: a chariot-racing arena, a political stage, and a place where emperors were crowned — and lynched. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Hippodrome's origins as the Roman circus, the infamous Nika Riots of 532 that nearly toppled Justinian, and the way the arena's monuments — the Serpent Column, the Obelisk of Theodosius, the statue of Porfyrios the charioteer — embodied the empire's continuity with pagan Rome and its Christian present. They follow the factions' colors, their slang, their violent turf wars, and how a riot that began with a chant in the Hippodrome ended with thousands dead and Hagia Sophia rebuilt. This is the story of the place where Constantinople cheered, schemed, and occasionally burned its own city down.
#Hippodrome #Constantinople #Byzantine #NikaRiots #Justinian #ChariotRacing #Theodosius #SerpentColumn #Obelisk #Porfyrios #BlueGreenFactions #Byzantium #RomanEmpire #Istanbul #HagiaSophia #History #FexingoHistory #MiddleEast
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Transcript
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