Constantine is most famous for its place where neither the Emperor's Sun Palace nor the Imperial Senate was built, but the Great Arena built by Emperor Constantine for racing cars, which could accommodate 100,000 spectators, and the U-shaped racetrack, with the Emperor's Stand at its eastern end.The Emperor's Stand has a passage that leads directly to the Palace of the Sun, which is only accessible to the Emperor and the rest of the Imperial Family.At its northern end, there are four gilded bronze statues of horses, bronze statues of other famous horses and chariots that line the track, all of which no longer exist.The racecourse is filled with statues of gods, emperors and heroes, among the famous works are the statue of Hercules in Lyubles, the statue of Romulus and Remus and the wolf, and the serpent column.In the Eastern Roman Empire, the racecourse was the center of urban social life, and a lot of bets were placed on chariot races.Initially, four teams competed, each funded by a different party in the Senate, namely the "Blues", "Greens", "Reds" and "Whites"."
Red Party" and "White Party".A total of eight chariots (two chariots per team), each pulled by four horses, competed on the racecourse's track.More than simple sporting activities, these competitions provided a rare opportunity for the emperor and commoners to come together.Political discussions are held at the racecourse's regular meetings.The rivalry between the "Blues" and the "Greens" often mingled with political or religious antagonism, and sometimes even into riots, because the "Blues" differed from the members of the "Greens", whose name was taken from the colour of the sea and symbolized the spirit of adventure, and the initial participants were seafarers, but later they were joined by burghers, nobles and senators.They supported the centralization of the emperor's power.The "Greens" are taken from the colors of the spring fields, since most of its members are farmers.The wealthy merchant magnates in the eastern part of the empire constituted the upper class of the "Green Party", who advocated local autonomy and opposed the emperor's intention to increase the centralization of power.During the reign of Justinian the Great, there were extremely serious conflicts between the "Blue Party" and the "Green Party" in Constantinople over racing cars, and even developed into riots, which were finally suppressed.For a while, the Roman motorsport, which was once prevalent, was not even very popular, but after Hiraclius stabilized the situation in the empire, motorsport became popular in the upper echelons of the empire, and the "blues" and "greens" were also reactivated.After the murder of Justinian II, the emperor of Constantinople changed like a marquee, first Tiberius, then Letion, then Felipix, and with the help of Felippix's secretary Anastatius also sat on the throne with the assistance of the "Blue Party".The "Blue Party", believing that Anastasia I had ascended to the throne as its own credit, was arrogant and carried out terror against the population, especially against its political rivals, the members of the "Green Party".On a competitive day, the "Greens" scolded Anastatius I, who was present at the time, for favoring the "Blues", and as a result, the "Blues" were also involved in riots, and a fierce brawl broke out between the two parties in the racing arena.On the orders of Anastasiasius, the mayor of Constantinople, Berbatov, ordered the arrest of the most violent people in the arena and sentenced several people to death.Two of them were hanged when their ropes broke three times, and the crowd demanded forgiveness from the executioner.The executioner was about to hang him a fourth time, when the blue-green gangsters rushed up and snatched the two death row inmates.Because the two death row inmates were one of the "Blues" and the other of the "Greens", the two factions united and demanded that Emperor Anastasia I forgive them.The "Blues" and "Greens" converged and poured onto Avenue Messer, chanting in unison "Nika!
”(Greek for "victory").Among these people who shouted "Nika", there was a hidden British intelligence officer stationed in Constantinople, their leader was named Dos Santos, on the surface, he was a number of wealthy people in Constantinople, a big businessman, in fact, his real identity was the head of the British Empire's intelligence agency in Constantinople, his real life was called He Zhihua, a Greek with a deep degree of sinicization, his grandfather was one of the Greek scholars who was expelled from Constantinople by Justinian I, and waited until his generation, He Zhihua has completely regarded himself as a Han Chinese, and he used the appearance of a Greek to infiltrate the Eastern Roman Empire and make a name for himself.When the blue and green parties kidnapped death row prisoners, He Zhihua, who was also watching the hanging, was keenly aware that this was a great opportunity to disrupt Constantinople and welcome his own people into Constantinople, and he immediately decided to plan a political campaign specifically against Anastasiasius.Under the plot of Ho Zhihua and other well-intentioned people, angry demonstrators surrounded the Sun Palace, where Anastasia I lived, and demanded the removal of the chief minister and chief of chamberlain, especially the archbishop of the Eastern Region, Governor of Cappadocia, Johannes, who had drawn up a series of decrees in favor of the "blue" aristocracy."
Johannes must be removed from power......
If he doesn't step down for a day, we won't stop for a day......"
He Zhihua, who was the leader of the people's opinion, shouted loudly in the crowd, and as soon as he finished speaking, several of his subordinates immediately shouted, "What Mr. dos Santos said is very much, how can a bastard like Johannes sit in a high-ranking position, with him, where is there still a way for us small people to live?"
”"Yes, yes, bastards like Johannes are simply a shame for us Romans......"
Under the instigation of a few of them, the demonstrators were excited, and they followed a few British spies in front of the Sun Palace Gate shouting slogans, He Zhihua They looked, hehe, it seems that the incitement was quite successful, He Zhihua glanced at one of his subordinates, and his subordinates looked at He Zhihua's eyes, and immediately understood.He immediately shouted at the top of his voice, "Citizens of New Rome, everyone knows that in the east of our empire, there is a powerful British Empire, and the emperor of the British Empire once said that it is better to go home and be a farmer than to fight for the people......
With a bastard like Johannes on top, where can our days be better?
”The new Rome in his mouth is another name for Constantinople, the citizens of Constantinople have always been proud of being residents of the imperial capital, they never say that they are Constantinoples, but call themselves new Romans, the words of this brocade guard spy quickly resonated with the demonstrators, yes, no wonder the British Empire will be the first power in the world, listen to what the emperor said, isn't it much better than this bullshit Anastasiaus?