More (Sort of) Recent History of Riots

We may be recalling the Los Angeles riots of 1992 but others are looking further back. Picture it: 387 AD. “In response to an unwanted tax imposed by the Emperor Theodosius, a mob of citizens and local officials of Antioch tore down painted wooden panels and bronze statues of the imperial family and dragged the loot through the streets. After setting fire to a house and attempting to ignite more buildings, the riot was finally quelled by law enforcement.” Hey, let’s not forget Constantinople in 388! And then in 532! The Nika Riots were half soccer hooligans at work, a quarter anti-tax zealots and a quarter paid agitators, basically. Only 30,000 people were killed! And then nobody got to have nice things (chariot races mostly) for a long time. Mm hmm.

Probably we should also be looking at Evil May Day, in 1517, when some folks decided it was time to get all the dirty foreigners (Of course, Jews! But also Greeks and Italians and worse) out of London. The city set a curfew and later arrested everyone, the army occupied the city and then, after some political groveling, everyone was pardoned! Ta da, the end.