Although the Church Fathers and the ecclesiastic writers encouraged the care of the body for health reasons, sports in Byzantium were seen in a totally different way in comparison with the ancient Greek society, as they were limited in demonstrating professional skills and were no longer associated with the education of the youth. Wrestling, high jump, long jump and javelin were among the popular sports of the period, while traditional sport venues such as the stadium, the arena and the gumnasium, continued to be in use during the early centuries of Byzantium.

One of the most important sports venues and the main entertainment area for the residents of the empire was the hippodrome that held, among others, endurance races, horse races and chariot races. These took place at fixed dates but also with the opportunity of various official celebrations. The hippodrome also gave people the opportunity, through the anonymity of the crowd, to applaud the emperor of to publicly express their dissatisfaction.
 
Almost all of the big cities of the empire had an hippodrome; the most famous of all was the one of Constantinople that was founded at the end of the 2^nd century. It had the form of the Roman hippodrome, with a horseshoe shape and elongated sides, while at the central area, which was divided into two parts by an oblong obstacle, the Euripus (spina) the races and the celebrations took place. The spectators that could be of different age, religion and social status, sat at the stands, under which there were ancillary areas (stables, areas for preparation etc), while the emperor had his own special royal gallery, the Seat.

Nobody worked on the days of the races as everything was closed. The 8 chariot races that carried on through the day started with a signal of the emperor. On the intermission between the races spectators could dine or be entertained by dancers, actors, mimes, acrobats and wild animals.

The municipalities (Greens, Blues, White and Red), who took their name by the distinctive color of clothing that their charioteer was wearing, were sporting clubs that were in charge of organizing the races.

Other popular sports among the imperial court and the aristocracy was tzikanion, a game that was played in open court and resembled the sport of polo that we have today and also tornemes and tzostra, which were played following the rules of the knightly encounters.