Enewald - Well, before Constantine turned it into the Second Rome (as he originally named it), Byzantion was indeed not as great, but nontheless a fairly prosperous and important city in the region. It was the trade link between Asia Minor and the Balkans and the Aegean and the Black Sea, after all. Severus Septimus had most of Byzantion rebuilt after it was mostly ruined after a rebellion. In addition to the hippodrome (which was probably a bit smaller than in Constantine's time) he also extended the city walls.
RGB - Well, it would be nice to have another relic of the ancient world kept alive in Constantinople

I could imagine that this would cause some unrest, with the new Muslim (or Christianized) immigrants introducing Arabian horse racing, and the native Greeks rigildly sticking to chariot racing as a way of 'resisting' the invasion of these different new cultures.
asd21593 - Thanks. To be honest, it took me a bloody long time to write
