games/ sports:
Chariot Racing:
Chariot racing was the most popular sport at the time of the Byzantine Empire. Like many other subjects, the Byzantine Empire adapted this sport from the Romans. In the Roman Empire, there were four color-themed teams: the Reds, the Whites, the Greens, and the Blues. However, when the western half of the Roman Empire fell in the sixth century A.D., the Greens joined with the Reds and the Whites joined with the Blues, and so in the Byzantine Empire there were only these two teams.
These games took place in the capital of the Empire, in Constantinople. The teams' supporters were wildly supportive and were often responsible for bloody riots. The Blue and Green teams stood for two different things. Supporters of the Blue team were often the ruling classes and religious authorities. Supporters of the Green team was the common people of the Byzantine Empire.
The purpose of racing these chariot races was to get fame and money. Winners of the chariot racing would grow stupendously wealthy and could win as much as 15 bags of gold for surviving. The games featured 12 four-horse teams racing seven times around a grand arena. Whoever finished the rounds first would win the gran money prize. The arenas that these games took place in were typically 2,000 feet long, but the track was no more than 150 feet wide. There weren't many rules in theses games, so the players could go to extreme measures to get to the finish line first.
Chariot racing was the most popular sport at the time of the Byzantine Empire. Like many other subjects, the Byzantine Empire adapted this sport from the Romans. In the Roman Empire, there were four color-themed teams: the Reds, the Whites, the Greens, and the Blues. However, when the western half of the Roman Empire fell in the sixth century A.D., the Greens joined with the Reds and the Whites joined with the Blues, and so in the Byzantine Empire there were only these two teams.
These games took place in the capital of the Empire, in Constantinople. The teams' supporters were wildly supportive and were often responsible for bloody riots. The Blue and Green teams stood for two different things. Supporters of the Blue team were often the ruling classes and religious authorities. Supporters of the Green team was the common people of the Byzantine Empire.
The purpose of racing these chariot races was to get fame and money. Winners of the chariot racing would grow stupendously wealthy and could win as much as 15 bags of gold for surviving. The games featured 12 four-horse teams racing seven times around a grand arena. Whoever finished the rounds first would win the gran money prize. The arenas that these games took place in were typically 2,000 feet long, but the track was no more than 150 feet wide. There weren't many rules in theses games, so the players could go to extreme measures to get to the finish line first.
This was a painting of what the chariot racing would look like. Each man rode on a chariot and had four horses with them to race.