The tzykanisterion ( Greek : τζυκανιστήριον ) was a stadium for playing the tzykanion ( τζυκάνιον , the Greek name for Chovgan , from Middle Persian čaukān , čōkān ), a kind of polo adopted by the Byzantines from Sassanid Persia .
7-514: According to John Kinnamos (263.17–264.11), 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. The sport was very popular among the Byzantine nobility: Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) excelled at it; his son, Emperor Alexander (r. 912–913), died from exhaustion while playing, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118)
14-524: A soldier, and occasionally admits his ignorance of certain events. The work is well organized, and its style, modeled on Xenophon , is simple, especially when compared with the florid writing of other Greek authors of the period. William Plate considers him the best of the European historians of this period. John Kinnamos is also credited for writing a book on one of the Angeli emperors; however, this book
21-580: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Kinnamos Joannes Kinnamos , or John Cinnamus ( Greek : Ἰωάννης Κίνναμος or Κίναμος; born shortly after 1143, died after 1185), was a Byzantine historian . He was imperial secretary (Greek "grammatikos", most likely a post connected with the military administration) to Emperor Manuel I (1143–1180), whom he accompanied on his campaigns in Europe and Asia Minor . It appears that Kinnamos outlived Andronikos I , who died in 1185. Kinnamos
28-518: The Nea with two galleries. Aside from Constantinople and Trebizond , other Byzantine cities also featured tzykanisteria , most notably Lacedaemonia , Ephesus , and Athens , something which modern scholars interpret as an indication of a thriving urban aristocracy. These were also used as places of public tortures and executions, as it is historically recorded for the tzykanisteria of Constantinople and Ephesus. This polo -related article
35-521: The present work is an abridgment of a significantly larger work. The hero of the history is Manuel, and throughout the history Kinnamos attempts to highlight what he sees as the superiority of the Byzantine Empire to the Western and other powers. Similarly, he is a determined opponent of what he perceives as the pretensions of the papacy . Nevertheless, he writes with the straightforwardness of
42-489: Was injured while playing with Tatikios , and John I of Trebizond (r. 1235–1238) died from an injury during a game. 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
49-588: Was the author of a history that covered the years 1118–1176, thereby continuing the Alexiad of Anna Komnene , and covering the reigns of John II and Manuel I, until Manuel's unsuccessful campaign against the Turks , which ended in defeat at the Battle of Myriokephalon . Kinnamos's work breaks off abruptly, though it is highly likely that the original continued to the death of Manuel. There are also indications that
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