According to
John Kinnamos (263.17–264.11), the
tzykanion was played by two teams on horseback, equipped with long sticks topped by nets, with which they tried to push an apple-sized leather ball into the opposite team's goal. The sport was very popular among the Byzantine nobility: Emperor
Basil I (r. 867–886) excelled at it; his son, Emperor
Alexander (r. 912–913), died from exhaustion while playing, Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) was injured while playing with
Tatikios, and
John I of Trebizond (r. 1235–1238) died from an injury during a game. The
Great Palace of Constantinople featured a
tzykanisterion, first built by Emperor
Theodosius II (r. 408–450) on the southeastern part of the palace precinct. It was demolished by Basil I in order to erect the
Nea Ekklesia church in its place, and rebuilt in larger size further east, connected to the
Nea with two galleries. Aside from
Constantinople and
Trebizond, other Byzantine cities also featured
tzykanisteria, most notably
Lacedaemonia,
Ephesus, and
Athens, something which modern scholars interpret as an indication of a thriving urban aristocracy. These were also used as places of public tortures and executions, as it is historically recorded for the
tzykanisteria of Constantinople and Ephesus. ==References==