Within a hundred years after the fall of Rome in the western empire,
Justinian the Great was emperor of the Eastern Empire in Constantinople. At the time, around 530 AD, the people of the city had divided themselves into four factions named after colors. They were the Reds, Blues, Greens and Whites, named after the colors of the uniforms their chariot teams wore. The supporters of the teams also wore the colors of their teams. The teams were more than just sporting teams, they represented political parties or ideologies– well, as much as they could be political in the Eastern Empire of Rome in the 6th century with a ruler having virtually absolute power. They were the republicans and democrats of the Byzantine Empire. These factions combined aspects of street gangs, political parties, and sports clubs taking positions on current issues as diverse as theological concepts, supporting various claimants to the throne, or social issues such as immigration and taxes.
There is an incident that occurred in 6th century Constantinople that I
believe has some bearing on what’s going on in America today. I find it
quite telling that, as Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History never
repeats itself, but it rhymes.” That is the curse we are under coming to
this existence, human nature being what it is; we seem to continue to make the same mistakes our ancestors did. In the case of the incident in 6th century Constantinople, our culture, our society, our people are manipulated in very much the same way to further the aspirations of a small group of elites. They pray upon our jealousies, our fears, and our prejudices in order to gain power.
The games, which may have included some gladiatorial events as well as chariot races, were as much political events in their day as election outcomes are in our day. A lot of people took the outcomes very personally and violence would take place, much like the rowdy British Soccer fans that, if not kept in check with thousands of police to keep peace, will riot whether their team wins or losses. Some cities in America have fans with the reputation of also creating riots when their team wins or loses a big event like the super bowl. The riots occuring in ancient Constantinople, however, were much more sinister, and carried with them serious consequences that impacted everyone.
Late in the year 531 AD there was an incident that occurred that eventually causes a riot that ended up killing tens of thousands of people and almost brought the rule of the emperor to an end. It has become known in history as the Nika Riots. Some members of the Blues and Greens were arrested for murder in connection with deaths that occurred during rioting after a recent chariot race. The rioters who were arrested were convicted of murder and sentenced to death. But two men, one from each faction, escaped and found sanctuary in a church. To protect the men in hiding the church was surrounded by an angry mob who demanded the men be set free. Fires were being set in the city, riots on a small scale occurred in sections of the city. After attempting to stop the riots and hooliganism, Justinian was unable to bring an end through application of force. He declared a festival with chariot races and commuted the men’s sentence to serve in prison instead of execution in an attempt to placate the factions. The mob, however, continued to demand that the men be set free.
The day for the chariot races arrived and the crowds arrived emotionally charged. They were not only enraged about the sentences handed to the men charged with murder, but they had become resentful of high taxes, low wages, and were hostile toward the policies of their emperor. As the day wore on the yells had transformed from cheers for their teams, “BLUE!” or “GREEN!”, to demands against the emperor, who was attending the races in his special imperial box. Insults directed at Justinian broke out and eventually the shouts became a united “NIKA!” (“Victory”, or “Win- Conquer”) directed aggressively at the emperor. Crowds began to break out and assault the imperial palace which was next door to the Hippodrome where the races were conducted. Justinian and his wife were able to escape to the palace, which was under temporary protection by imperial guards, where he started making plans to escape the city. His wife, Theodora, however, convinced him to stay and deal with the rioters.
There was a party of senators who had been opposed to Justinian. They were behind the scenes manipulating the mobs, which at this point were ripe for listening to any rumor, any bit of misinformation that fed their highly emotional, riotous state of mind. This was the opportunity these senators were looking for, and in fact had been conspiring to create, to gain power over the populace and remove Justinian from power. In the ensuing chaos created in the Hippodrome after Justinian left, hundreds of people were killed and an alliance between the blues and the greens elected an emperor to replace Justinian.
Justinian ended up bribing the leaders of the blue faction by sending them a large amount of gold through a very trusted court official. The blue leaders then left taking most of their faction members from the Hippodrome and left the shocked green faction members alone in the complex. The Imperial Guards, who numbered in the thousands, entered the Hippodrome and slaughtered some 30,000 people who were left. Justinian was able to regain control and as a result of the riot and its disastrous consequences gained a greater control over the people of Constantinople. He would become known in the history books as Justinian the Great, one of the most successful and important emperors of the Roman Empire, rivaling the legacies and influence of Julius Caesar and Augustus. After Justinian, the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire began a slow decline.
So, what does this event teach us about our own times? Blues, Greens,
Democrats, Republicans–fundamentally there is not much difference between how they operate and what the hidden goals are. Yes, there are different policies, political philosophies, social causes, but in all cases–in all instances of groups forming a collective arrangement–it involves the promotion of one group over another. When the policies and platforms of one group take precedence it will always benefit one class of people more than all the others. I am sorry to say, but that is the way of human nature. Some, maybe most, may benefit from changes brought about by political change, but some elements of society will always lose or gain less. The vast majority of people do not realize that the majority of great social movements in our day, that they may be in support of, possibly are actively involved in, are being manipulated by a small cavil of elites who will gain the most in success. This is the inheritance of Babylonian political philosophy–rule of the fittest. The communists would say, “All are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Bare in mind that many of the social movements are for good causes, but what invariably happens is that ambitious and talented men and women attach themselves to the cause and high-jack it and remake it in their image in order to gain political traction for themselves.
The Nika Riots is an extreme example of how the manipulation of a whole society occurs. Another example of this occurs in the Book of Mormon with the account of the Kingmen told in Alma 51. An elite class of people desired to increase their power. We do not know the names of the leaders, but in following the patterns of history, we know these leaders manipulated this class of elites to vigorously support a return to a monarchical government, which would have greatly empowered the leaders. They were eventually put down by Captain Moroni, but the discontent continued to fester below the surface where it almost caused the eventual destruction or enslavement of the Nephite people. The operations of the Kingmen in the Book of Mormon became the pattern of how the Gadiantons infiltrate at the highest levels and take over governments.
The account in Alma serves as a warning to us in 21st Century America. Mormon is constantly warning the reader not to allow what happened to the Nephites to occur to the gentile nation of our day. There has always been political division in American politics, even from the very beginning. The divisions created between different segments and classes of people have been self-serving for a very small group of elites attempting to control the opinions and votes of the people. The presidential election of 1800 was acrimonious and set a precedent in elections in America for the next 200 years. President John Adams was trying for a second term as president while his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, ran against him. In order to gain traction against Adams, Jefferson called Adams “a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” He labeled Adams a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant. Name calling and labeling is one of the most powerful and insidious methods that corrupt politicians and demagogues use to foment emotional responses in people. “He/She is a racist!” “He/She is anti-gay and hates gay people.” In Babylonian political systems, which is any government not run by principles found in a Zion society, political power trumps propriety and friendship, for Adams and Jefferson were known to be great friends before this election. Power trumps decent, humaine, and charitable behaviors; after all the end justifies the means in almost all political systems.
Jefferson hired what we would call a publicist or campaign manager today, James T. Callendar. Callendar falsely accused Adams of wanting to start a war with France and have himself crowned king. This was instrumental in convincing the electorate to narrowly vote out Adams in favor of Jefferson in 1800. Callendar later went to prison for the slanders he wrote about Adams, but that did nothing to correct the wrongs done preventing Adams from winning his second term.
Today lies and slanders are alive and well in American Politics. Both parties are very well practiced in spinning truth, creating half truths and lies, and disseminating false news. To enter politics is to have your name drug through the mud, slandered, and innuendoes lavishly published in a way to convince others with a certain prejudice to vote a certain way. American society has not reached the levels of fevered violent emotionalism that pervaded the ancient society of Constantinople yet. But there is a change in the wind. When parties declare that they will not ever support the policies or legislation of the other party, or president, the gauntlet is thrown down. Violence will eventually become the only means of arbitration between them. We are starting to see the beginnings of this. Think about what happened in the U.S. House and Senate as well as in the country as a whole in 1860 before the Civil War. Lies, half truths, made up stories, were all crafted to inflame the passions of the people, especially in the south, to support a disastrous policy that could only benefit an elite class of the society.
In the Zion I envision there will of course be no political parties. But there will also be no classes of people. There will be no descendants of Lehi, Lamanites, Gentiles, Jews, or other designations. There will be no parties, no “you” as differentiated from “us”, no “remnant”, no children of Jacob. There will only be Israelites, which means “Blessed of God” (Literally means “Contends with God” but the meaning is that of having received a blessing at God’s hand after having contending for that purpose). As a Zion people we will be color blind, we will be blind to the education or intellect of a person, and we will be blind to the genealogy of a person. We simply will not care. We will not be jealous of another person’s talents, or accomplishments, or assignment. Nor will we be impressed. Our only concern, THE ONLY ONE, will be how to make our neighbor’s life better. Imagine living in a place like that, where you and your neighbors have no hidden agenda, no jealousy, no fear, no desire to manipulate or control.
Unfortunately, before we get to Zion, we will have to live through the degradation of society, which will in large part be encapsulated in the behaviors, manipulations, and demagoguery that is infesting our political process. In all of history and especially in the scriptures, we recognize that the fall of societies and great nations is always preceded by the collapse in morals of the King or governing bodies.
God Bless.