Horse racing was a hugely popular activity for the Romans, both in Rome and in Constantinople. In the 4th century Constantine the Great built the Hippodrome of Constantinople to hold as many as 100,000 spectators. Remnants of the building survived into the Ottoman period that began in 1453, but the stadium was little used following the depredations of the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Events in the Hippodrome
Aside from horse racing, many other festive and not so festive events in Byzantine history occurred in the Hippodrome. The famous Nika rebellion occurred over a week in January 532 during the reign of Justinian I and Theodora. Justinian ended the rebellion when he sent Imperial troops led by his general, Belisarius, into the Hippodrome and killed an estimated 30,000 rioters.
Another infamously bloody event occurred 653 years later when city mobs became thoroughly disgusted by the cruel usurper and murderer, Andronikos I Comnenus, and spent three days torturing him . After the mob had inflicted various mutilations on him, they dragged him to the Hippodrome, hung him upside down, and stabbed him repeatedly before the mob literally tore his body to pieces.
Photos of What Remains
Above is a photo I took of the famous horses of St. Mark’s in Venice, which stood atop the carceres of the Hippodrome for over 700 years. The men of the Fourth Crusade took themto Venice.
Below are photos I took of the Column of the Serpent which still stands in the same spot in the spina of the Hippodrome where it has been for over 1,000 years. A drunken Janissary knocked off the Serpent’s head from the column and it now resides in the Istanbul Archeological Museum.
After visiting the Blue Mosque, our guide pointed out this ancient marble bench sitting outside in the mosque’s garden. This was part of the stands in the Hippodrome. The guidebooks will tell you that some of the building materials for the Blue Mosque came from the Hippodrome.
I asked our guide if he knew where the Kathisma (the emperor’s private viewing section) had stood. I don’t know if he was correct, but he pointed out this building which looked to be in about the right spot. Obviously part of the building is more modern. However, on the top you can see the distinctive striping in the stonework/brick found in other remains of the Hippodrome.
Towards the end of our stay we visited the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum. This museum stands across the square from the Blue Mosque and over some of the stands of the Hippodrome. In the lowest level of this museum you can find these remnants of the Hippodrome.
First, a passageway in the Hippodrome.
Then another passageway with the remains of the stands.
Finally, if you want to see a faithful recreation of the Hippodrome, go to this website: www.byzantium1200/hipodrom.html
The designer of the Byzantium 1200 website has done some amazing recreations of Byzantine sites, with the Hippodrome being one of the more detailed since it was often written about. You can also follow Byzantium 1200 on Twitter and Youtube.
