The horse racing of Constantinople

Contantinopolis race track, also known as Hippodrome, is a horse-drawn race track, sports and entertainment in the capital Constantinopolis of the Eastern Roman Empire. Nowadays, it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, along with many surviving specimens of the original work.

These races are not just simple sporting events. They also created some on rare occasions so that the Emperor and commoners could come together in a single location. Political discussions are often conducted at the Hippodrome. That place could be directly accessed by the Emperor via a Kathisma ramp

Although when it comes to the Hippodrome, people often link it to the glorious days of Constantinople when it was the imperial capital, it appears to have been before. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was also known as Bysantium, and was also a provincial town of moderate importance.

In the year 203, Emperor Septimius Severus, when rebuilding the city and widening the wall, added a hippodrome, an arena for horse racing and other entertainment. Its stands can accommodate up to 100,000 spectators. The horse track at the Hippodrome is U-shaped and the Kathisma room is at the eastern end of the track.

The Kathisma was linked directly to the Grand Palace through a corridor that could only be used by the emperor or other members of the royal family. The Hippodrome’s horse umbrella, decorated with four gilded bronze horse statues at the top.

It is located to the north. The rivalry between the other two teams and their fans is often mixed with political and religious rivalry.

The content of these works is not only the famous horse or racer but also the various mythological scenes and a statue of Herakles slapping the Lion. Only one of them still exists today, a bronze column with three snake heads.

Which was cast to commemorate the Greek martyrs during the great victory at Plataea before the Persian army. They were brought back to Constantinople from Delphi. Under Eastern Roman times, the Hippodrome was a cultural and social center of the city.