1. How did politics and sports mix in the Byzantine Empire?

Politics and sports mix in the Byzantine Empire by causing the heart of the Byzantine Empire
(Constantinople) to fall in ruins in order for it to be rebuilt by Justinian. This all started with something as
simple as chariot racing, until during when “the two remaining teams (Blue and Green) were wildly
popular in the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople, and their
supporters were as passionate as ever—so much so that they were frequently responsible for bloody
riots.” These riots are known as the “Nika Riots”, since “the two groups gradually evolved into what
were essentially early political parties” which thought Justinian was a terrible emperor basically burned
down almost a 1/3 of the city. But in the end, Justinian rallied everyone into the Hippodrome and had
his loyal troops slay all the greens and blues. Which lead to Justinian’s rebuilding of an empire.

2. Could anything like this ever happen in today's world? Explain why or why not

I believe it wouldn’t happen, but in reality I’ll never know. Since, in this world many countries
they go by democracy meaning, the power of government is elected by the people. So a ruler like
Justinian probably wouldn’t exist in today’s world as many people didn’t agree with his power. Also,
games including slaves would be really rare, as slavery has been abolished in most countries. Of course
this doesn’t mean it may not happen again. With dictators such as Kim Jong Un with only one leader
setting the power, if rebellions ever happen, events could be quite similar, but only time can tell.