Tzykanisterion
The tzykanisterion (Greek: τζυκανιστήριον) was a stadium for playing the tzykanion (Greek: τζυκάνιον, from Middle Persian čaukān, čōkān), a kind of polo adopted by the Byzantines from Sassanid Persia.[1]
According to John Kinnamos, the tzykanion was played by two teams on horseback, equipped with long sticks topped by nets, with which they tried to push an apple-sized leather ball into the opposite team's goal.[2][3] The sport was very popular among the Byzantine nobility: Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) excelled at it; Emperor Alexander (r. 912–913) died from exhaustion while playing; and John I of Trebizond (r. 1235–1238) died from a fatal injury during a game.[3] The Great Palace of Constantinople featured a tzykanisterion, first built by Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450) on the southeastern part of the palace precinct. It was demolished by Basil I in order to erect the Nea Ekklesia church in its place, and rebuilt in larger size further east, connected to the Nea with two galleries.[4] Aside from Constantinople and Trebizond, other Byzantine cities also featured tzykanisteria, most notably Sparta, Ephesus, and Athens, an indication of a thriving urban aristocracy.[5]
These were also used as places of public tortures and executions, as it is historically recorded for the tzykanisteria of Constantinople and Ephesus.[6]
References
- ↑ Janin 1964, pp. 118–119.
- ↑ Kinnamos, 263.17–264.11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kazhdan 1991, p. 1939.
- ↑ Kazhdan 1991, p. 2137.
- ↑ Laiou 2002, Maria Kazanaki-Lappa, "Medieval Athens", p. 643.
- ↑ Anna Komnene, The Alexiad, A. Reifferscheid (ed.) (1884, Teubner) 15:9.4; Theophanes Chronographia 1, de Boor, C. (ed.) (Leipzig 1883), p. 445.3-9.
Sources
- Janin, Raymond (1964). Constantinople Byzantine. Développement Urbaine et Répertoire Topographique (in French). Paris, France: Institut Français d'Etudes Byzantines.
- Kazhdan, Alexander Petrovich, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York, New York and Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- Laiou, Angeliki E., ed. (2002). The Economic History of Byzantium from the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century. Washington, District of Columbia: Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 0-88402-288-9.