Demes in the Byzantine Empire
The demes (Ancient Greek: δῆμοι, Latin: factiones) were chariot racing factions in the Roman and later Byzantine Empires, which over time developed into social and political factions. There were four demes; the dominant two were the Blues (Greek: Βένετοι, romanized: Vénetoi) and the Greens (Greek: Πράσινοι, romanized: Prásinoi), which exercised patronage over the Whites (Greek: Λευκοὶ, romanized: Leukoí) and the Reds (Greek: Ῥούσιοι, romanized: Rhoúsioi) respectively.[1]
The demes began in the Principate era as chariot racing factions. With the decline of urban self-governance, they took on broader responsibilities such as organizing the spectacles. The colour divisions gradually covered other aspects of daily life such as theatre, so that by the fifth century they had become more akin to political parties.
Between the 5th and 8th centuries, the demes grew so powerful that they participated in the political and religious conflicts of the time,[2] terrorised the major Byzantine cities with their frequent riots (most notably the Nika riots in 532), had official militias,[3] made and unmade emperors, and were sometimes called on by the emperors for tasks like repelling invasions and repairing the city walls.[4] Entire neighbourhoods and guilds were described as pro-Blue or pro-Green. Theodore Balsamon, in his commentary on the Council in Trullo, noted that even the emperor had no authority over the demes.[5] However, beginning in the 7th century, the demes gradually weakened and became integrated into the imperial government.[1]
Despite no longer being a significant social force, they retained ceremonial functions for several centuries afterwards. The 10th-century treatise De Ceremoniis describes various ceremonial processions and festive events in which the factions participated, most importantly the imperial coronations, starting with that of Justin I in 518.
There is scholarly debate over the extent to which the demes remained mere sporting factions, and the extent to which they morphed into political parties and wielded political power. Alfred Rambaud and Alan Cameron are representative of historians who minimize the political participation and influence of the demes, while Fyodor Uspensky, Alexander Dyakonov, and Gavro Manojlović are representative of historians who maximize it.
Etymology
[edit]The factions were referred to in Greek using the word δῆμος (plural δῆμοι), which meant "people". There are two different opinions in scholarship about how the word for "people" came to also mean "circus factions". One position, that of Alan Cameron, is that it was a calque of the Latin populi, which meant both "people" and "members of a guild".[6] Another view, espoused by Constantin Zuckerman, is that both senses of the word δῆμοι (people and circus factions) actually referred to a specific class of citizens, who were entitled to public distributions of grain and who had an interest in public entertainment such as chariot racing.[7]
Another, more technical word for the factions was μέρος.[8]
History
[edit]
Origins
[edit]The origins of the demes lie in the Roman Republic, when certain individuals known as domini factionum 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 Nero increased the number of prizes and, consequently, races, the domini factionum began refusing to hire teams for less than a full day.[9] Under these conditions, maintaining teams that did not win imperial prizes became unprofitable, and small entrepreneurs ceased their activities. The domini, 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.[10]
The organizations of the domini factionum took on contracts to arrange games; each had its own treasuries, menageries, permanent staff of charioteers, and actors. They were distinguished by the colours their charioteers wore. According to Tertullian, 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

Since the death of Nero the charioteer of the Greens
has often won the palm, and carried off many prizes.
Go now, malicious envy, and say that you were influenced by Nero;
for now assuredly the charioteer of the Greens, not Nero, has won these victories.
The majority of the domini factionum 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.[15] 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 actuarii thymelae et equorum currilium. [16][17] 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 domini 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 Latin: factionarius.[18]
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.[19]
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.[20]
Origin myths
[edit]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".[21] 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.[22]
Height
[edit]
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.[23] However, this was not a solid rule, as there were many Chalcedonian Greens (like Maurice) and non-Chalcedonian Blues (like Theodora).[24]
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.[23][25] Certain neighbourhoods (like Zeugma, now Unkapanı, 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.[26]
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.[27][28]
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".[29]
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.[30] John Malalas records another incident,[note 1] 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.[32]
Accordiong 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.[33]

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."[21] On another occasion, the Greens and Blues (Greek: πρασινοβενέτων) in Antioch rose up with the Judeo-Samaritan revolt of Julianus ben Sabar in 529, and killed their fellow Christians.[34][35] 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.[36] In 614, when the Persians besieged Jerusalem, the demes united against Patriarch Zacharias's decision to surrender the city, and during the Siege of Alexandria in 641, two rival Byzantine commanders, Menas and Domentianus, were supported by the Greens and Blues respectively.[37]
Militias
[edit]
The demes had their own militias, the demotai (δημόται), with an official registry (κατάλογος). 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.[38] 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.[39] The gate now known as Yeni-Mevlevihane-Kapısı was once called Πόλη τοῦ Ρουσίου, or "Gate of the Reds". According to Andreas David Mordtmann, it was named so because it was built by the Reds.[40]
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.[4][note 2] 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.[43]
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.
Decline
[edit]
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.[44] A certain John Crucis was appointed by Maurice as the leader of the Greens; he started a riot[note 3] and was later burned alive by Phocas, for which the Greens retaliated by setting fire to the praetorium.[45][46] 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.
The turbulent events of the 8th–10th centuries — the Byzantine Iconoclasm and the rise and fall of the Isaurian, Amorian, and Macedonian dynasties — occurred without factional involvement. Lacking 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.[47] Under Emperor Basil I (867–886), the factional phialae (platforms with fountains) built under Justinian II in the Great Palace were dismantled, making the distinctions between factions even less pronounced.[48][49]
In later centuries, the demes, whose leaders were appointed by the government, came to be subordinate to it. By 899, when the Klētorologion was written, only the Blues and Greens still existed. They separated further into those "of the city" (πολιτικοὶ·, politikoi), under a dēmarchos, and the "suburban" (περατικοὶ, peratikoi), under a dēmokratēs, 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.[50] Their salaries were paid by the praipositos, and they had dedicated places in the Hippodrome, in the Great Palace and in imperial processions.[1] Ceremonies involving demarchs in this capacity are described by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century, Michael Attaleiates in the 11th century and Theodore Prodromos in the 12th century.[51]
The official use of the title of dēmarchos (usually in conjunction with another office like symponos or logariastēs) continued even after the demes themselves disappeared. The dēmarchoi served as military commanders during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.[1]
Modern parallels
[edit]The Blues and Greens are often compared to modern-day football hooligans. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook noted some similarities to the rivalry between Glasgow's two Old Firm football clubs: Celtic and Rangers. Celtic fans wear green to support their team, while Rangers fans wear blue. Their rivalry had religious and political aspects, with Celtics fans being generally Catholic and voting Labour, and Rangers fans being Protestant and voting Conservative.[52]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Greek: Πέμψας τινὰς τῶν κομενταρησίων Ζίμαρχος ὁ ἔπαρχος ἐπὶ τῷ κρατῆσαί τινα νεώτερον ὄνομα Καισάριον, ἀντέστησαν οἱ τῆς γειτονίας τῶν Μαζεντιόλου καὶ ἐκύλλωσαν πολλοὺς στρατιώτας καὶ αὐτούς γε μὴν τοὺς κομενταρησίους... καὶ οὐ συνέβαλον μετὰ τῶν πρασίνων οἱ τοῦ βενέτου μέρους, ἀλλ' ἦν ἡ μάχη αὐτῶν μετὰ τῶν ἐξσκουβιτόρων καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν.[31]
- ^ "Belisarius took every horse, including those of the emperor, of the Hippodrome, of religious establishments, and from every ordinary man who had a horse."[41] (Greek: ὁ δὲ Βελισάριος ἔλαβε πᾶσαν τὴν ἵππον, τήν τε βασιλικὴν καὶ τοῦ ἱππικοῦ καὶ τῶν εὐαγῶν οἴκων καὶ παντὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅπου ἦν ἵππος)[42]
- ^ This riot was so notorious it was mentioned by the author of the Doctrina Jacobi, who wrote "When Phocas became emperor in Constantinople, as a Green I betrayed Blue Christians, and denounced them as Jews and mamzirs. And when the Greens under Crucis burnt the Mese and perpetrated evil, as a Blue I again beat up Christians, insulting them as Greens and denouncing them as incendiaries and Manichaeans."[45]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Kazhdan 1991, p. 769
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 601
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 622
- ^ a b Manojlović 1936, pp. 626–627
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 620 "Καὶ (δήμων) ἐχόντων προσόδους χάριν τῶν ἱπποδρομιῶν, καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως προσκαλουμένου καὶ εἰς τοῦτο μὴ ἐξουσιάζοντος"
- ^ Cameron 1976, pp. 24–44
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 561
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 562
- ^ Suetonius, Nero, 22
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 6.
- ^ Futrell 2006, p. 207.
- ^ Uspensky 1894, p. 2.
- ^ Kulakovsky 2003, p. 125.
- ^ Martial 1897.
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 7.
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 11.
- ^ Liebeschutz 2000, p. 225.
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 9.
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 54
- ^ Procopius of Caesarea, Secret History, IX, 2—5
- ^ a b Malalas 2019
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 571
- ^ a b Frend 1972, p. 158
- ^ Cameron 1976, p. 127
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 645.
- ^ Diakonov 1945, p. 156.
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 573
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 692
- ^ Scholasticus 1846
- ^ Pigulevskaya 1946, pp. 142–147.
- ^ Malalas, John (563). "De insidiis" (PDF) (in Greek). p. 94.
- ^ Manojlović 1936, pp. 649–650
- ^ Theophanes 1997, p. 358
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 636
- ^ Malalas, John (563). "De insidiis" (PDF) (in Greek). p. 521.
Ὅτι ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως Ἰουστινιανοῦ ἐστασίασαν οἱ Σαμαρεῖται καὶ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐν Καισαρείᾳ τῆς Παλαιστίνης ποιήσαντες τὸ ἓν ὡς ἐν τάξει πρασινοβενέτων, καὶ ἐπῆλθον τοῖς χριστιανοῖς τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως καὶ κατέκοψαν πολλοὺς καὶ ἐπῆλθον καὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῶν ὀρθοδόξων.
- ^ Booth 2011, pp. 560, 580
- ^ Liebeschutz 2000, p. 228.
- ^ Manojlović 1936, pp. 622, 630
- ^ Turnbull 2004, p. 9; Bardill 2004, p. 123; Meyer-Plath & Schneider 1943, p. 4; Philippides & Hanak 2011, pp. 299–302
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 621
- ^ Theophanes 1997, p. 341
- ^ Theophanes (815). "Θεοφάνης - Χρονογραφία 2 - Βυζαντινά κείμενα" (in Greek).
- ^ Manojlović 1936, p. 631
- ^ Booth 2011, p. 572
- ^ a b Booth 2011, p. 577
- ^ Whitby 1989, p. 145
- ^ Guilland 1968, p. 27.
- ^ Belyaev 1893, pp. 35–37.
- ^ Guilland 1968, p. 33.
- ^ Bury 1911, p. 105.
- ^ Guilland 1969, p. 8.
- ^ Halsall, Paul. "Medieval Sourcebook: Circus Factions in Egypt".
Bibliography
[edit]Primary sources
[edit]- Malalas, John (2019) [563]. Malalas, Chronography Bks 1-7, 10-18. Translated by Kiesling, John.
- Martial, Marcus Valerius (1897). Martial, Epigrams. Book 11. Mainly from Bohn's Classical Library (1897). Translated by Bohn, Henry George.
- Suetonius, Gaius (1964). The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Literary Monuments (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. p. 376.
- Theophanes Continuator (2009). Biographies of Byzantine Emperors. Byzantine Library. Sources (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Aleteia. p. 400. ISBN 978-5-91419-146-4.
- Procopius of Caesarea (1993). War with the Persians. War with the Vandals. Secret History. Monuments of Historical Thought (in Russian). Translated, article, and commentary by A. A. Chekalova; editor G. G. Litavrin. Moscow: Nauka. p. 570. ISBN 5-02-009494-3.
- Theophanes (1997) [815]. The Chronicle Of Theophanes Confessor, Trans. By Cyril Mango (1997). Translated by Mango, Cyril.
- Scholasticus, Evagrius (1846) [593]. Ecclesiastical History (431–594 AD), Book 4. Translated by Walford, Edward.
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Secondary sources
[edit]In English
[edit]- Ando, C. (2000). Imperial ideology and provincial loyalty in the Roman Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 494. ISBN 0-520-22067-6.
- Bardill, Jonathan (2004), Brickstamps of Constantinople, Volume I: Text, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199255221
- Bell, P. N. (2013). Social Conflict in the Age of Justinian: Its Nature, Management, and Mediation. Corby: Oxford University Press. p. 416. ISBN 978-0199567331.
- Booth, Phil (2011). "Shades of Blues and Greens in the Chronicle of John of Nikiou". Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 104 (2): 555–602. doi:10.1515/BYZS.2011.013.
- Bury, John Bagnell (1911). The Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century - With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. London: Oxford University Press.
- Cameron, Alan (1976). Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0198148043.
- Charanis, Peter (1978). "Review of The Role of the People in the Political Life of the Byzantine Empire: The Period of the Comneni and the Palaeologi" (PDF). Byzantine Studies/Études Byzantines. 5.
- Downey, G. (1961). History of Antioch. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 767.
- Futrell, A. (2006). The Roman Games: A Sourcebook. Oxf.: Blackwell Publishing. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-4051-1568-1.
- Evans, James Allan Stewart (2005). "The Nika Revolt of 532". The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32582-0.
- Frend, William (1972). The Rise of the Monophysite Movement. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-0227172414.
- Humphrey, John H. (1986). Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California. ISBN 978-0-520-04921-5.
- Liebeschutz, W. (2000). "Administration and politics in the cities of the fifth to the mid seventh century: 425–640". In Cameron, A. (ed.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. XIV. Cambr.: Cambridge University Press. pp. 207–237. ISBN 978-0-521-32591-2.
- Kazhdan, Alexander (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Vol. II. Oxford University Press. pp. 768–769.
- Liebeschuetz, John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon (2003). "Shows and Factions". The Decline and Fall of the Roman City. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926109-1.
- Magdalino, P. (2015). "The People and the Palace". In Featherstone, Michael; Spieser, Jean-Michel; Tanman, Gülru; Wulf-Rheidt, Ulrike (eds.). The Emperor's House. Urban Spaces, vol IV. B.: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 169–180. doi:10.1515/9783110331769. ISBN 978-3-11-038228-0.
- Philippides, Marios; Hanak, Walter K. (2011), The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453: Historiography, Topography and Military Studies, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 978-1409410645
- Turnbull, Stephen (2004), The Walls of Constantinople AD 324–1453, Fortress Series, vol. 25, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 184176759X, retrieved 21 October 2021
- Whitby, M. (2009). "The violence of the circus factions". Organised Crime in Antiquity. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales. p. 278. ISBN 9781910589359.
In Russian
[edit]- Belyaev, Dmitry Fyodorovich (1891). Overview of the Main Parts of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors (in Russian). Vol. I (Byzantina. Essays, Materials, and Notes on Byzantine Antiquities ed.). St. Petersburg: Typography of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. p. 200.
- Belyaev, Dmitry Fyodorovich (1893). Daily and Sunday Receptions of Byzantine Emperors and Their Festive Processions to the Hagia Sophia in the 9th–10th Centuries (in Russian). Vol. II (Byzantina. Essays, Materials, and Notes on Byzantine Antiquities ed.). St. Petersburg: Typography of I.N. Skorokhodov. p. 308.
- Diakonov, Alexander Petrovich (1945). "Byzantine Demes and Factions (ta merē) in the 5th–7th Centuries". Byzantine Collection (in Russian). Moscow-Leningrad: 144–227.
- Kozlov, A. S. (1982). "Main Directions of Political Opposition to the Byzantine Government in the First Half of the 5th Century". Ancient and Medieval History (in Russian) (19). Sverdlovsk: Ural State University named after A. M. Gorky: 5–31.
- Kulakovsky, Yulian Andreevich (2003). History of Byzantium. Byzantine Library. Studies (in Russian). Vol. I (3rd ed.). St. Petersburg: Aleteia. p. 492. ISBN 5-89329-618-4.
- Kurbatov, Georgy Lvovich (1962). The Early Byzantine City: (Antioch in the 4th Century) (in Russian). Leningrad: Publishing House of Leningrad University. p. 262.
- Levchenko, Mitrofan Vasilyevich (1947). "Veneti and Prasini in Byzantium in the 5th–7th Centuries". Byzantine Chronicle (in Russian). 1: 164–183.
- Pigulevskaya, Nina Viktorovna (1946). Struve, Vasily Vasilyevich (ed.). Byzantium and Iran at the Turn of the 6th–7th Centuries. Proceedings of the Institute of Oriental Studies, vol. XLVI (in Russian). Moscow-Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. p. 291.
- Uspensky, Fyodor Ivanovich (1894). "Circus Parties and Demes in Constantinople". Byzantine Chronicle (in Russian). 1. St. Petersburg: 1–16.
- Chekalova, Aleksandra Alekseevna (1997). Constantinople in the 6th Century: The Nika Revolt. Byzantine Library. Studies (in Russian) (2nd ed., revised and expanded ed.). St. Petersburg: Aleteia. p. 329. ISBN 5-89329-038-0.
In French
[edit]- Grégoire, H. (1946). "Le peuple de Constantinople ou les Bleus et les Verts" [The People of Constantinople or the Blues and the Greens]. Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 90 (4): 568–578. doi:10.3406/crai.1946.78039.
- Guilland, R. (1968). "Études sur l'Hippodrome de Byzance" [Studies on the Hippodrome of Byzantium]. Byzantinoslavica. 29: 24–33.
- Guilland, R. (1969). "Études sur l'Hippodrome de Byzance" [Studies on the Hippodrome of Byzantium]. Byzantinoslavica. 30: 1–17.
- Manojlović, Gavro (1936) [1904]. "LE PEUPLE DE CONSTANTINOPLE". Byzantion (in French). 11 (2). Translated by Grégoire, Henri: 627–726.
- Patlagean, E. (1977). Pauvreté économique et pauvreté sociale à Byzance 4e–7e siècles [Economic and Social Poverty in Byzantium, 4th–7th Centuries]. Civilisations et Sociétés. Vol. 48. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 483. ISBN 978-3-11-080519-2.
- Yanssens, Y. (1936). "Les Bleus et les Vertes sous Maurice, Phocas et Héraclius" [The Blues and the Greens under Maurice, Phocas, and Heraclius]. Byzantion. XI (2): 499–536.
In German
[edit]- Meyer-Plath, Bruno; Schneider, Alfons Maria (1943), Die Landmauer von Konstantinopel, Teil II (in German), Berlin: W. de Gruyter & Co.
