Fun Fact # 304 Colorful Chariots

 Fun Fact #304

Colorful Chariots

Everyone loves sports, but the Roman Republic’s teams proved to be troublesome. You see the most popular of the attractions was Chariot racing, drawing the largest crowds in the Republic and organizing them behind one of four teams: The Reds, Whites, Green, and Blue. However as time went on these two of these fan groups (The Blues and Greens) behaved more like criminal gangs which could be spurred up to riot across the republic.

 For more than 400 years only the Cohortes Urbanae kept the teams in check until the Nika riots destroyed Constantinople. Here, Emperor Justinian bribed the Blues to side with the Cohortes to slaughter every Green in the city. After 30,000 lay dead the turmoil of the teams never again threatened Eastern Rome.

image from: The Smithsonian Magazine