Hippodrome Culture in the Eastern Roman Empire

Öz

The construction of the hippodrome was initiated by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus in the early third century AD, imitating the Roman circi and Greek stadiums. These institutions - stadiums, circi and hippodromes - were of great importance to the ancient Romans and Greeks. They were both for athletics and entertainment. But these institutions, where large crowds gathered, were often also the scene of other kinds of social and political activity. In preparation for the ceremonies, Emperor Constantine commissioned a series of monumental buildings, including an imperial palace linked to a hippodrome. This hippodrome was at the center of the ceremonies, signaling its importance for the new capital. In fact, the Hippodrome of Constantinople would be at the center of the city's political and social life for almost 900 years, and even after its destruction, its arena became the city's main square. Although much of it was destroyed centuries ago, important traces of it can still be seen today, including the magnificent Egyptian obelisk.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Eastern Roman Empire
• Hippodrome
• Political Relations
• Emperor Constantinus
• Arena.

Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu’nda Hipodrom Kültürü

Öz

Hipodromun inşası milattan sonra III. yüzyılın başlarında Roma İmparatoru Septimius Severus tarafından Roma sirki ve Yunan stadyumları taklit edilerek başlamıştır. Bu kurumlar, yani stadyumlar, sirk ve hipodromlar antik Romalılar ve Yunanlılar için büyük önem taşıyordu. Bunlar hem atletizm hem de eğlence amaçlıydı. Ancak büyük kalabalıkların toplandığı bu kurumlar, çoğu zaman başka türden sosyal ve siyasi faaliyetlere de sahne olmuştur. İmparator Constantinus törenlerde kullanılmak üzere bir hipodromla bağlantılı bir imparatorluk sarayı da dahil bir dizi anıtsal bina yaptırdı. Bu hipodrom törenlerin merkezinde yer alarak yeni başkentin önemini de ifade ediyordu. Aslında, Constantinopolis Hipodromu neredeyse 900 yıl boyunca şehrin siyasi ve sosyal hayatının merkezinde yer almıştır Yıkıldıktan sonra bile arenası şehrin ana meydanı haline geldi. Büyük bir kısmı yüzyıllar önce yok olmuş olsa da muhteşem Mısır dikilitaşı da dahil olmak üzere önemli izleri bugün hâlâ görülebilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu
• Hipodrom
• Siyasi İlişkiler
• İmparator Constantinus
• Arena.

Kaynakça

1. Albu, E., (2014), "Bohemond and the Rooster: Byzantines, Normans, and the Artful Ruse." Anna Komnene and Her Times. Routledge,s. 157-168.
2. Anagnostakis, I., (2016) "Prokopios' Dream Before the Campaign Against Libya: A Reading of Wars 3.12. 1–5." Dreaming in Byzantium and beyond. Routledge, 79-94.
3. Atkinson, J. E. "The Nika riots and ‘hooliganism’." Acta Patristica et Byzantina 1.1 (1990): 119-133
4. Bailly, A. (2006). Bizans İmparatorluğu Tarihi. Nokta Kitap.
5. Bassett, S. G. (1991). The antiquities in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 45, 87-96.
6. Bell, P. (2016). How the Circus and Theatre Factions could help prevent Civil War. Civil War in Ancient Greece and Rome, 389-413.
7. Betancourt, R. (2021). The Monuments We Privilege, or, How to Write an Ethical History of Byzantium. YILLIK: Annual of Istanbul Studies, 3, 171-176.
8. Bury, J. B. (1897). The Nika Riot. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 17, 92-119.

9. Bury, J.B. (2004), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vol. 2) – Published, Paperback. Cameron, A. (1979). Images of authority: elites and icons in late sixth-century Byzantium. Past & Present, (84), 3-35. Cameron, A., (1976),Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium, Clanderon Press, Oxford.
10. Canciani, M., Falcolini, C., Buonfiglio, M., Pergola, S., Saccone, M., Mammì, B., & Romito, G. (2013). A method for virtual anastylosis: the case of the Arch of Titus at the Circus Maximus in Rome. ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2, 61-66.
11. Colbert, V., and Stella D., (2018). "Theodora" Rewritten": An Interview with the Author of two Historical Novels about the Empress Theodora: Stella Duffy." thersites. Journal for Transcultural Presences & Diachronic Identities from Antiquity to Date 8.
12. Crowther, N. B. (1996), "Sports violence in the Roman and Byzantine Empires: A modern legacy?." 445-458.
13. Diehl, C. (2006). Bizans İmparatorluğunun Tarihi, çev. A. Göke Bozkurt, İlgi yayınları, İstanbul.
14. Dikici, R. (2002), Bu Şehr-i Stanbul ki (Osmanlı’nın İstanbul Macerası), Remzi Kitabevi.
15. Giatsis, S. G. (1995). The Massacre in the Riot of Nika in the Great Hippodrome of Constantinople in 532 AD.
16. Giatsis, S. G. (2000). The organization of chariot‐racing in the great hippodrome of byzantine constantinople. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 17(1), 36-68.
17. Hein, O., & Mader, R. (2006). Die Geschichte der beiden Obelisken im Circus Maximus in Rom als Beispiel philologischer Fehlinterpretation. Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, 88(2), 433-438.
18. Maleon, B. P. The Torture of Bodies in Byzantium After the Riots (Sec. IV-VIII). Mainz Historical Cultural Sciences| Volume 38, 43.
19. Ostrogorsky, G., (2006); Bizans Devleti Tarihi, Çev: Fikret Işıltan · Türk Tarih Kurumu; Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu Tarihi; Ankara.
20. Rice, T. T. (1998). Bizans' ta günlük yaşam: Konstantinopolis Bizans' ın mücevheri. Özne Yayımcılık.
21. Richer, T. (2019). Reevaluating the Nika Riot & Placing it in Conversation with the Antioch Riot of 387.
22. Slootjes, D. (2023). Image and Reality: The Public and Persuasive Power of the Empress Theodora. In The Public Lives of Ancient Women (500 BCE-650 CE) (pp. 88-106). Brill.
23. Westbrook, N. (2011). The Palace under siege: The Topography of the Nika Riots in Constantinople. In 28th International Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (pp. 1-19). Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand.
24. Whitby, L. M. (2015). Belisarius, c. 500–565 CE. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics.
25. Whitby, L. M. (2016). Narses, 478–573 CE. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics.
26. Whitby, M. (1999). The violence of the circus factions. Organised crime in Antiquity, 229-253.
27. Whitby, M. (2006). Factions, bishops, violence and urban decline. Die Stadt in der Spätantike–Niedergang oder Wandel, 441-461.
28. Whitby, M. (2017). Christodorus of Coptus on the Statues in the Baths of Zeuxippus at Constantinople. Text and Context. In Nonnus of Panopolis in Context II: Poetry, Religion, and Society (pp. 271-288). Brill.
29. Yılmaz, C. (2020). Hatşepsut: Naibelikten firavunluğa yürüyen bir kraliçe. OANNES-Uluslararası Eskiçağ Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(2), 277-300.
30. Zaharia, D., Stănculescu, E., Mihuţ-Bohîlţea, F., & Lung, E. G. (2014). Great Reformers: Psychological Analysis Of Their Personality Justinian, Julius Caesar And Shi Huangdi. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 140, 212-220.