This week, January 11--18 is the anniversary of the Nika Riots which almost cost Justinian his throne. The circus factions in and some of the Byzantine populace rebelled against his rule and tried unsuccessfully to have a new emperor crowned. Much of Constantinople was burned to the ground, including Hatia Sophia, which Justinian later rebuilt as the building we know today. Only Theodora's courage and Justinian's killing of 30,000 rioters in the Hippodrome ended the riots.



I'm going to try and do some of my old AS posts from the time of Justinian's reign, and possibly some new ones that nobody has seen before, each day this week from January 11--18 in commemoration of the Nika Riots. The first post will follow this one and will be called "The Black Death in Constantinople."