I received the following question in my email:
Are there any parallels in ancient Roman times to the working class riots we are seeing in England (or those in Aulnay, Paris in 2005)?The Nika riots under the Emperor Justinian immediately came to mind. (Also see Lives of the Caesars Review.)
Which riots would you compare? Please post in the comments.
Comments
Who can forget the Saturninus riots that ended with the Senate house roof tiles?
The riots in Thessalonica during the reign of Theodosius II, where several thousand rioters were locked in the city’s arena and murdered.
It seems to me that folks in Alexandria, Egypt liked to riot almost at the drop of a hat.
I would caution use of the phrase “working class riots”. It is a generalisation as many involved have middle class or better backgrounds; like a millionaire’s daughter studying at a private school, a teacher, a soldier, an architect, many university students etc. Also the riot only lasted one day and as soon as people realised the police were standing off, it changed into a burglarfest where people believed they could go to the shops put a brick through a window and steal an iPad or whatever. I accept everyone, especially the media, likes a simple label to attach to something but the problem with the phrase is it could lead to solutions that are not fit for purpose.