Byzantium had often been portrayed as an authoritarian empire whose emperors have supposedly God-given and unlimited power. However, this assumption about the political sphere of the Byzantine Empire might be a partial representation at most, since the political realm had been, not in theory but in practice, fragmented among different actors. Even though some modern Byzantinists have successfully challenged this kind of prejudices, the passive role which frequently attributed to the populace has not been sufficiently criticized yet. The history of Byzantium was composed of recurring political, economic, and religious disturbances, revolts, and uprisings which particularly took place in flourished urban centers. Constantinople, as the capital