### q8 Justinian gave in to rioters > After all of this, Justinian showed a bizarre level of blind optimism by deciding to continue with more planned racing on the Wednesday. It didn’t go well. No doubt sensing the weakness of the emperor, the supporters torched the hippodrome and made new demands. They called for the dismissal of three key imperial officials, and as the disturbances continued, Justinian eventually acquiesced. > > Relenting in the face of fierce violence failed to stop the riots there though. Justinian had cut away much of his own authority with his slow and botched response, and after attempts were made to depose him for Probus, he had to battle to get it any of it back. This led to widespread destruction as troops engaged rioters and a mass slaughter of Greens in the hippodrome after the emperor had bought the Blues back to his side with gold coins. Whoa this is some SERIOUS echoes of modern politics. Is this just a weirdly inevitable thing whenever you have a big empire? Need to #articleseed this more but could be a good #articleseed/addendum question or maybe even one for AskHistorains - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fjae1sfextextc8ebxphwgft) - [[Chariot-Racing Hooliganism The Nika Riots of Constantinople by Antigone#q8 Justinian gave in to rioters|View in Vault]]