The Imperial District in Constantinople (this map is of the city after 532 but it shows the placement of the major buildings accurately)
In January 532 a seemingly typical riot at the races escalates into a full blown rebellion against Justinian. Trapped up in the Palace while Constantinople burns, the Emperor must decide whether to flee or to fight.
Period: 532
Download: Episode 20 – The Nika Revolt
RSS Feed: The History of Byzantium
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The History of Byzantium 
I’ve been dreading this episode. #notagooddayattheoffice
Reblogged this on http://www.seanmunger.com and commented:
This awesome podcast deals with the history of Byzantium, and this particular episode is one of the most dramatic events in that history: the Nika Revolt of 532 A.D. Highly recommended!
@ Tribonian – I almost made a joke when you commented the first time. That really made me smile.
@ sean – Thank you so much, I really appreciate the support and I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I really liked the sound of your book! Would you like to send me more information so I could plug it on the podcast?
So how much of the city was burned down? 30%? Because the long list of buildings sounds pretty serious. Must have cost a fortune to rebuild.
I don’t know how to calculate a % as such. But the central area from the Palace down to the Forum of Constantine and north toward the Acropolis was in ruins. It definitely would have cost a huge amount to rebuild. As you know though the Empire’s population was growing, the economy was doing fine and the new taxes and tightening up was bringing in a good amount of revenue. In that sense this happened at a time when the Empire could afford it.
Podcast kicks ass!! Was glad to find more about Byantium after the 12 Byzantine Rulers podcast. Looking forward to learning more about Bellisarius!!
Hey Robin,
Just wanted to tune in and give my feedback for the podcast so far as well! From everything that I have seen, this podcast is absolutely fantastic. The amount of energy, detail, and background material you put into the podcast and the posts is wonderful. You’ve also done more extra-narrative episodes (the Army, the Church, the Government, episodes etc.) than the History of Rome, which is great. If there was one thing I wanted more of from Mike Duncan’s riveting telling of Roman history, it was some more background episodes like the ones you’re doing.
I feel like you’ve hit a great pace with the narrative and have a perfect balance between it and all the other material. I’m a great enthusiast and fan of history, especially with the Roman / Byzantine empires.
Keep it up! I’ll be listening to the rest of the posted episodes and next ones eagerly!
Scott
Thank you so much 🙂
I was waiting for this one, fantastic! I also want to put my two cents in that in going through all the episodes (starting this one), I also have enjoyed the background episodes.
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As a football fan I can’t help but notice the similarities between ultras and deems(?), deams(?). My question is how do you spell deems/deams?
Demes. And I agree with you completely. The behaviour between modern and ancient sports fans has a lot of similarities. In my episodes on Porphyrius the Charioteer I go into more detail.