The demes (, ) 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 () and the Greens (), which exercised patronage over the Whites () and the Reds () respectively.

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, terrorised the major Byzantine cities with their frequent riots (most notably the Nika riots in 532), kept official militias and archives, made and unmade emperors, and were sometimes called on by the emperors for tasks like repelling invasions and repairing the city walls. 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. "" However, beginning in the 7th century, the demes gradually weakened and became integrated into the imperial government.

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 The factions were referred to in Greek using the word (plural ), 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 , which meant both "people" and "members of a guild". Another view, espoused by French Byzantinist Constantin Zuckerman, is that both senses of the word (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.

Another, more technical word for the factions was méros ().

History Origin

The origins of the demes lie in the Roman Republic, when certain individuals known as 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 emperor Nero ( 54–68) increased the number of prizes and, consequently, races, the began refusing to hire teams for less than a full day.Suetonius, Nero, 22 Under these conditions, maintaining teams that did not win imperial prizes became unprofitable, and small entrepreneurs ceased their activities. The , 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.

The organizations of the took on contracts to arrange games; each had its own treasuries, menageries, permanent staff of auriga slave charioteers, and actors. They were distinguished by the colours their charioteers wore. According to Tertullian (155–220 AD), 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. 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. 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.

The majority of the 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. 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 . 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 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 .

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. The emperor Domitian created two new factions, the Purples and Golds, but they vanished from the record very soon after his death.

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.

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". 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.

Height

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. However, this was not a solid rule, as there were many Chalcedonian Greens (like Maurice) and non-Chalcedonian Blues (like Theodora).

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. "It is not true to maintain that the Blues were the aristocratic faction and the Greens the faction supported by the lower social classes. On the whole the general masses were to be found in both parties, though the Blues tended to draw their leaders from members of the great landowners, the Graeco-Roman senatorial aristocracy, and the Greens from the representatives of trade and industry, as well as from those in court service or financial administration who often originated in the eastern lands of the Empire." During the Nika Riots, a leader of the Greens sarcastically told Justinian that he did not know where the palace and government offices were. Certain neighbourhoods (like Zeugma, now , 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.

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.

The contemporary chroniclers Evagrius Scholasticus and Procopius describe the extent to which Justinian reportedly favoured the Blues in the leadup to the Nika Riots: They then give examples of governors and judges who, after punishing Blues who had killed Greens, were themselves scourged or killed on Justinian's orders. Procopius also describes the characteristic hairstyles and fashions worn by the Blues in his time, which were called the "Hunnic" style.

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. John Malalas records another incident in 565, 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.

According 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.

Militias

The demes had their own militias, the demotai (), with an official registry (). 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. 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.; ; The gate now known as was once called , or "Gate of the Reds". According to , it was named so because it was built by the Reds.