What do you know about the Hippodrome of Constantinople? If you’re like most people, the only ancient sports stadium you’ve heard of is the Colosseum in Rome. I don’t blame you. It’s huge, it’s famous, tourists love it, and it hosted gladiator combats. Unless you’re still angry at the Romans for their barbaric willingness to […]
Tag: chariot racing
Byzantine Discoveries – What They Found First, and Who Took the Glory
The process of discovering new knowledge is tricky. But we try to give credit where it’s deserved. Or do we? A few examples of Byzantine discoveries suggest this question is more complex than meets the eye. (Recall that the Byzantine Empire was the successor of the Roman Empire in the east. We could also call […]
Byzantine Sports – A Number of Choices
Our last post about the Byzantines (click here to read it) described the importance of chariot racing in the Byzantine Empire. Today, we’ll finish this topic with what the races were like and then examine other Byzantine sports. Byzantine Sports – The Charioteers Men who were skilled at racing held the public esteem just as […]
Byzantine Chariot Racing – Sports Without Gladiators
Perhaps it is unusual to follow up my first post on the Byzantine Empire with a post on Byzantine chariot racing. However, sports are an area in which this medieval empire appears quite modern. Plus, they’re fun, and in the Byzantine world they were a big deal. But a major difference existed between the sports […]