Origin The origins of the demes lie in the
Roman Republic, when certain individuals known as would hire out horses and other necessary equipment and personnel to the
agonothetes, who organised the chariot racing games. In practice,
agonothetes could not organize games without them. After emperor
Nero ( 54–68) increased the number of prizes and, consequently, races, the began refusing to hire teams for less than a full day. Under these conditions, maintaining teams that did not win imperial prizes became unprofitable, and small entrepreneurs ceased their activities. The , not the charioteers, were the primary force in their organizations. They were the ones capable of resolving conflicts.
Suetonius recounts that when
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero's father, refused to pay a winner, only a complaint lodged by the chariot owners forced him to relent. The organizations of the took on contracts to arrange games; each had its own treasuries, menageries, permanent staff of
auriga slave charioteers, and actors. They were distinguished by the colours their charioteers wore. According to
Tertullian (155–220 AD), there were originally only the Reds and the Whites, representing summer and winter respectively. However, later, "due to increased luxury and the spread of superstitions," the Reds were dedicated to
Mars, and the Whites to
Zephyrus. He also mentions that the Greens were dedicated to
Terra or spring, and the Blues to the sea and sky or to autumn. According to sixth-century sources, like the chronicle of
John Malalas and the dependent
Chronicon Paschale, the circus factions represent the
Solar System and correspond to the
four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. The Blues, Greens, Reds and Whites were established by the first century AD, with the first mention of them being by
Pliny the Elder in 70. illustrating a chariot race with the four factions: Blue, Green, Red and White The majority of the were
equites, and it concerned the senators that people of a lower class than them could earn so much wealth and power through the horse breeding industry. A series of laws were therefore passed to secure the imperial monopoly on the best horses. A law addressed to the prefect of
Rome in 381 mandated that all winning horses be handed over to the city's residents, which ultimately undermined the financial incentive for private
agonothetes. By the 4th century, the horse racing industry, as well as that of the
gladiatorial games, had been "
imperialized", with administrative duties for organizing the games transferred to special imperial officials known as . In provinces where the emperor could not personally organize games, festivities were tied to the
imperial cult, ensuring that no one could receive the peoples' gratitude except the emperor. Although the lost commercial interest in organizing games, they retained the responsibility of overseeing stables and training teams, which included, in addition to the charioteers themselves, a large number of support staff. In this capacity, they were called . It is commonly assumed that the Blues, Greens, Reds and Whites were equal once, but that the Blues and Greens slowly grew to dominate the Reds and Whites. However, from as early as the
Julio-Claudians, almost every emperor whose favourite deme is known supported either the Blues (e.g.
Vitellius,
Caracalla) or the Greens (e.g.
Caligula,
Nero,
Domitian,
Lucius Verus,
Commodus,
Elagabalus).
Marcus Aurelius stated that he was "neither Blue nor Green". From such evidence, some historians argue that the circus faction rivalry had always been between the Blues and Greens. From the 5th century onwards, the traditional faction colors spread to organizers of spectacles in theaters and
amphitheaters. For example,
Procopius recounts that the father of the future empress
Theodora was a bear-keeper for the Greens. A more fanciful origin story of the demes is given by John Malalas, who says that, when
Romulus saw that the Romans "were angry and resistant to him on account of his brother's death", he invented the factions to divide them against each other. "So the inhabitants of Rome were divided into factions, and no longer were in concord with each other, because they desired their own victory and devoted themselves to their faction as to some religion". This myth, or a version of it, appears in several other chronicles, and in the writings of
Isidore of Pelusium, who speaks of the demes as a political machination.
Height Despite beginning as mere sports fanclubs, the demes became involved with the political and even religious disputes of the time. For example, during the
Chalcedonian Schism, the Blues generally aligned with the
Chalcedonians and the Greens with the
non-Chalcedonians.
Chrysaphius and
Theodosius II, who convened the
Second Council of Ephesus, both supported the Greens, while
Marcian, who convened the opposing
Council of Chalcedon, supported the Blues. However, this was not a solid rule, as there were many Chalcedonian Greens (like
Maurice) and non-Chalcedonian Blues (like
Theodora). There was a class division between the two demes. The Greens tended to be more working-class than the Blues, and were better represented among craftsmen, artisans, port-workers and countryfolk. Meanwhile, the Blues were better represented among elites and government officials, as well as the Jews. During the Nika Riots, a leader of the Greens sarcastically told
Justinian that he did not know where the palace and government offices were. Certain neighbourhoods (like Zeugma, now , and the quarter of Mazentiolos) were strongholds of the Greens, and others (like
Pittakia and the quarters along the
Mese) were strongholds of the Blues. After the death of
Anastasius I Dicorus (who had supported the Reds) in 518, the
excubitors hoped to make a man named John the next emperor, but were unable to because the Blues disapproved. Later, the Greens blocked
Germanus's imperial ambitions on account of his favouritism towards the Blues. These incidents illustrate the growing power of the demes. According to the contemporary chronicler
Evagrius Scholasticus, in the leadup to the
Nika Riots,
Justinian favoured the Blues "to such an excess, that they slaughtered their opponents at mid-day and in the middle of the city, and, so far from dreading punishment, were even rewarded". The
Nika Riots in 532 are the deadliest and most famous of the many riots caused by the demes, but there were also other times when the Blues and Greens put aside their differences and united against the government. For example, in the famine-stricken year of 556, both demes jointly demanded bread from the emperor. John Malalas records another incident, in which the
city prefect Zemarchus tried to arrest a young man from the Greens named Kaisarion, but for two days the Greens and Blues battled the imperial soldiers to protect him. Despite Justinian repeatedly sending
excubitors as reinforcements, and all sides suffering heavy casualties, the Greens and Blues managed to push the soldiers to the
Forum of Constantine, the
Forum of Theodosius, and finally the
praetorium. Justinian eventually pardoned them and dismissed Zemarchus. According to
Theophanes the Confessor, when Justinian died, the quarrels between the demes reached such an extent that Justinian's successor,
Justin II, told the Blues "The emperor Justinian is dead and gone from among you", and the Greens "The emperor Justinian still lives among you". This temporarily calmed the factions down, and the riots ceased.
Militias (c. 500) The demes had their own militias, the
demotai (wikt:δημότης#Ancient Greek|), with an official registry (wikt:κατάλογος#Ancient Greek|). The militias had a small nucleus of registered members (in 602, there were 900 Blues and Whites, and 1500 Greens and Reds) but could mobilise many more in times of need. On several occasions, they helped repair the
Walls of Constantinople. When the walls were damaged by an earthquake on 26 January 447, the Blues and Greens supplied 16,000 men between them for the rebuilding effort, and restored the walls in a record 60 days. The gate now known as was once called , or "Gate of the Reds". According to , it was named so because it was built by the Reds. The militias sometimes also helped the government repel foreign invasions.
Theophanes the Confessor reports that, when
Zabergan crossed the
Anastasian Walls in 559,
Belisarius drove him away using the imperial cavalry, the horses of all the citizens, and the horses of the
Hippodrome. The
demotai similarly helped defend Constantinople when it was
besieged in 626. Another example of the
demotai being recruited by the government occurs in the chronicle of
John of Antioch. During the
Heraclian revolt in 610, when
Phocas saw the fleet of
Heraclius on the horizon, he ordered the Greens to guard the Harbours of
Caesarion and
Sophia, and the Blues to guard the quarter of
Hormisdas. Heraclius later had the banner of the Blues burned in the Hippodrome to shame them for their treason. The extent of the demes' participation in the military is debated. While the majority of historians believe that it was significant, some historians (including
Alan Cameron) argue that it was minimal.
In the provinces in
Alexandria. 6th-century graffiti on the seats shows support for the Blues and Greens. The demes caused disturbances not only in Constantinople, but as far away as
Syria and
Egypt. For example, according to
John Malalas, in 490 the Greens started a
pogrom and massacred the Jewish population of
Antioch, until Theodore, the
Prefect of the East, suppressed them. When Emperor
Zeno, who was a supporter of the Greens, heard of it, he joked "Why did you burn only the dead Jews? It was necessary to burn the living Jews as well." The Egyptian chronicler
John of Nikiu wrote about the chaos caused by the demes in Egypt, such as the
Aykelah revolt, while the monk
Strategius complained that the Blues and Greens in
Jerusalem were fighting each other and plundering Christians. The
Miracles of Saint Demetrius also contains a particularly vivid description of their violence. During the
Persian invasions of the 7th century, the Blues and Greens made the streets of Alexandria and Antioch "scenes of continual bloodshed". In 614, when the
Persians besieged Jerusalem, the demes united against
Patriarch Zacharias's decision to surrender the city, and during the Arab
Siege of Alexandria in 641, two rival Byzantine commanders,
Menas and Domentianus, were supported by the Greens and Blues respectively. Near the end of the 7th century,
Anastasius of Sinai remarked "Today, even if the race of the
Saracens were to depart from us, straightway tomorrow the Blues and Greens would rise up again, and the East and Arabia and Palestine and many other lands would bring slaughter upon themselves".
Formalisation and decline '', a 10th-century
Byzantine silk tapestry depicting
John I Tzimiskes being greeted by the Blues and Greens at a
triumph Beginning in the 7th century, the demes gradually became official. The first mention of both
demarchs (official leaders of a deme) and of an official registry of Blues and Greens dates back to 602, and occurs in the History of
Theophylact Simocatta, with the first two demarchs being Sergius for the Greens and Cosmas for the Blues. Sergius was replaced by
John Crucis, who started a riot and was burned alive by
Phocas. The Blue demarch Cosmas may have been elevated by Phocas to urban prefect, and tortured Greens on Phocas' orders.
John of Nikiu also names two demarchs who were active in Egypt during the
Siege of Babylon Fortress in 640: Menas, the leader of the Greens, and Cosmas the son of Samuel, the leader of the Blues. In 695, following a rumour that
Justinian II was planning to exterminate the Blues, they and the
Patriarch Callinicus overthrew him and placed
Leontius on the throne. Leontius himself was overthrown when
Tiberius III allied with the Greens, who opened the gates of Constantinople for him. Over the next few centuries, the demes, whose leaders were appointed by the government, came to be subordinate to it. Historians debate when the political significance of the demes ended, with estimates ranging from the end of the seventh century (according to
Nikolaos Oikonomides) to the beginning to the ninth century (according to
Jacques Jarry and ). During his second reign,
Justinian II built Phiale (building)| (platforms with fountains) for the demes in the
Great Palace, demolishing a church to do so. He placed the Greens' adjacent to his new throne room, possibly out of favouritism towards them. The
iconoclast emperor
Constantine V (741–775) was adept at manipulating the demes; he would theatrically stage conversions of iconodule monks to iconoclasm in the
Hippodrome, publicly humiliate them for the demes' entertainment (like by forcing monks and nuns to walk hand in hand), and encourage the demes to lynch
iconodule monks such as
Stephen the Younger. These events contributed to the demes' loss of independence. Gradually losing their influence on public life, the factions continued their sporting activities. One faction still enjoyed greater imperial favor, with the Blues often preferred in the 9th–10th centuries. At the Hippodrome of Constantinople, they were the first to greet the emperor and held precedence over the Greens during ceremonies. Unlike in previous centuries, this situation no longer provoked discontent or led to conflicts. Under Emperor
Basil I (867–886), the factional built under
Justinian II were dismantled, making the distinctions between factions even less pronounced. By 899, when the was written, only the Blues and Greens still existed. They separated further into those "of the city" (·, ), under a , and the "suburban" (, ), under a , a role which was entrusted to senior military officials: the
Domestic of the Schools for the Blues, and the
Domestic of the Excubitors for the Greens. Their salaries were paid by the
praipositos, and they had dedicated places in the Hippodrome, in the
Great Palace and in imperial processions. ==Modern parallels==