Sports in Byzantium

The Byzantines took a fundamentally different view of sport than the Ancient Greeks. With its connotations of physical strength, health and the self-sufficiency of citizens in the city-states, exercise could not possibly have suited the living conditions and values of subjects in the Empire.

The view that Christianity did not favour sports because caring for the human body and nudity during races were incompatible with Christian teachings does not appear to hold water. On the contrary, care for the body as part of general health was encouraged by the Church Fathers and ecclesiastical writers. However, the professional terms on which athletes built their careers and games were organized in the Late Hellenistic and Early Imperial period were clearly no longer acceptable to anyone - at that time, athletes were paid, umpires and other judges often accepted bribes and matches were fixed or ended up being put on merely for show. Moreover, once Theodosius I officially recognized Christianity as the sole religion in the empire in 381, there was no further place for the various games held within pagan contexts (the Olympia were finally abolished in 394 by imperial decree). In addition, the growing prudery of Roman society rendered nudity sordid; mimes and mimadai were the only people who would appear naked. Their popular farces often made a travesty of Christian ceremonies and ridiculed the faithful, making it very difficult for the Church to tolerate or condone such spectacles. The Fathers were swift to adopt sporting vocabulary in their writings, but only with regard to the martyrs: Christ was the games organizer; exercise was equated with martyrdom and victory with death in the arena.

By Late Antiquity sport was limited to special professionals demonstrating their skills, and bore no relation to educating young people. The Justinian Code issued in 529 listed the authorized events as wrestling, high jump, long jump and javelin throwing. Traditional sports grounds such as the stadium, the gymnasium and the palaestra remained in use in the early Christian centuries, but were abandoned and fell into ruins from the 6th century onwards, due to continued economic decline.


The Hippodrome

The hippodrome was a large open-air building for chariot racing and spectacles, which derived in form from the Ancient Greek stadium. The largest and oldest hippodrome was in Rome, followed by others in Constantinople and all major cities of the empire, such as Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage and Thessaloniki. Chariot races were held on set dates, on Sundays and during major religious feasts. They also took place on formal celebrations such as the ascension of a new king, royal birthdays and weddings etc. In the hippodrome, the freedom provided by crowd anonymity in the presence of the emperor gave people the opportunity to applaud or to publicly express their displeasure at the ruling class and seek satisfaction of their demands.

The Hippodrome in Constantinople was founded by Septimius Severus in the late 2^nd century as a replica of that in Rome. It was later renovated by Constantine the Great in the early 4^th century, and remained in use until the 12^th century. It was horseshoe-shaped with two long sides. One end was open (carceres) while the other formed a closed, elongated curve (sphendone). The starting gates were at the open end, and the turning point for the chariots in the horseshoe opposite. The race track was divided in half by an oblong barrier, the euripos (spina), which was surrounded by a small moat. On top of the euripus were votive statues and sculptures for timing and measuring laps, with kamptoi (kampteres) around which the chariots turned at either end. Spectators sat on bleachers (terraces) on either side of the track and in the horseshoe-shaped sphendone. Under the bleachers there were auxiliary facilities (stables, storage areas for the chariots, preparation areas, etc.), while an arched corridor running along the top section offered a panoramic view of the city. In the middle of the long side adjacent to the palace was the Kathisma (Seat) or Royal Box, which was isolated from the surrounding bleachers and had banqueting halls and relaxation rooms for the emperor, officials and courtiers.

The races were announced one day in advance by the Demes, which hung a cloth, the so-called velon, at the gate of the hippodrome. The order of chariot races was determined by official lot on the afternoon of the day preceding the event. Everyone took the day off during the races:  shops, workshops, shipyards and everything else was closed, and people from all classes, including the clergy, flocked to the racecourse. The emperor would enter the Kathisma and, once the applause had died down, he would raise a white linen cloth known as the mappa, which he would drop to signal the beginning of the races.  Each of the four Demes was represented by one chariot; the winner was the first chariot to complete seven rounds around the euripus. Eight chariot races were held during the day, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. A long break allowed spectators to dine and be entertained by dancers, actors, mimes, acrobats and wild animal tamers. The spectacles were intended to maintain the public's interest and avert potentially violent situations.

The four Demes taking part in the chariot races were athletic clubs with substantial power and influence over the populace in the capital. They were the Greens, Blues, Whites and Reds, named after the charioteers’ racing colours. The Demes had their own horses, chariots, facilities and personnel such as veterinarians for the horses, notaries to keep minutes and accounts, chartoularioi for the archives, poets to compose racing chants, musicians and instruments. They were responsible for acquiring and maintaining horses, hiring charioteers and distributing tickets. The Demes were also involved in social and political activities: their members helped each other, assisted in the construction of public works and, if needed, defended the capital.


Other medieval sports

One popular sport with the palace and the aristocracy was tzykanion, probably introduced from Persia. It was played in an open stadium, the Tzikanisterion, and was similar to modern polo: people on horseback tried to hit a ball and score goals with long sticks. Other popular games among the aristocracy included jousting and melee, both imported from the West and played by knights’ rules. In jousts a man on horseback holding a shield and spear tried to knock his opponent off his horse, whereas in melees the contest was between two opposing teams.