Posted by Paul Mouritsen on December 31, 1997 at 11:29:28:

In Reply to: Re: red and blue posted by Paul Mouriten on December 31, 1997 at 11:17:45:

:
: : Can anyone help me find a quote by Marcus Aurelius in which he says something to the effect that it makes no difference whether red or blue wins? I gather it was in reference to a game or perhaps even a military battle.
: : Thanks.

The reference is to The Meditations, Book One, v. 5:

"[I learned] from my governor, to be neither of the green nor the blue faction at the games in the circus . . . ."

The green and the blue were colors under which the charioteers. The partisans of these two teams were even worse than British soccer fans and their riots sometimes shook the foundations of the empire. Several of the bad emperors were strongly attached to one color or the other and allowed it to interfere with the administration of the government. At times, members of the favored faction were allowed to plunder and kill those of the other faction with impunity. During the Nika rebellion in 532 A.D. , the blues and greens nearly burned Constantinople to the ground.

For a more detailed account of these factions, see The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Chapter 40 (II).

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: : : : : : Can anyone help me find a quote by Marcus Aurelius in which he says something to the effect that it makes no difference whether red or blue wins? I gather it was in reference to a game or perhaps even a military battle. : : : Thanks. : The reference is to The Meditations, Book One, v. 5: : "[I learned] from my governor, to be neither of the green nor the blue faction at the games in the circus . . . ." : The green and the blue were colors under which the charioteers. The partisans of these two teams were even worse than British soccer fans and their riots sometimes shook the foundations of the empire. Several of the bad emperors were strongly attached to one color or the other and allowed it to interfere with the administration of the government. At times, members of the favored faction were allowed to plunder and kill those of the other faction with impunity. During the Nika rebellion in 532 A.D. , the blues and greens nearly burned Constantinople to the ground. : For a more detailed account of these factions, see The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Chapter 40 (II).

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