Demes in the Byzantine Empire

The demes (Ancient Greek: δῆμοι, Latin: factiones) were chariot racing factions in the Roman and later Byzantine Empires, which over time developed into social and political factions. There were four demes; the dominant two were the Blues (Greek: Βένετοι, romanized: Vénetoi) and the Greens (Greek: Πράσινοι, romanized: Prásinoi), which exercised patronage over the Whites (Greek: Λευκοὶ, romanized: Leukoí) and the Reds (Greek: Ῥούσιοι, romanized: Rhoúsioi) respectively.

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