A civilian uprising broke out in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in January 532. Nika is Greek, meaning victory. The uprising was named after the participants shouted "Nika."

Racing parties were held during the Byzantine period, and a special organization was formed, Guimo. It was divided into the Blue Party (mainly Orthodox Christians) and the Green Party (mainly Monophytes) according to the color of the driver. The political and religious views of the Blue and Green Parties were different, so they often fought. The government took advantage of the hostile relationship between Guimo to manipulate. At the 532 racing meeting, the lower echelons of the two parties, dissatisfied with the tyranny and taxation of the officials, demanded the dismissal of Tribonian and John of Cappadocia, and the release of the imprisoned members of the two parties. After being rejected, a massive uprising broke out, and the uprising people destroyed the prison and burned the official residence. The fire lasted for three days, destroying public buildings such as St. Sophia's Cathedral and spreading to the royal palace. After Justinian replaced two of his favorite courtiers, he went to the racing circuit to persuade the rebels, but it didn't work. The well-trained government army was losing ground, and the whole city was controlled by the rebels except for the palace. Then Justinian I used a conspiracy to send Belisarius (about 505-565, commander of the Byzantine Empire) to organize barbarian mercenaries and send people to buy the Blue Party. On the eighth day of the uprising, the Blue Party suddenly turned against each other, and the insurgents were in chaos. The barbarian mercenaries slaughtered about 35,000 of the uprising crowd. The leader of the Green Party, Hypatius, was executed. The uprising failed. But the uprising dealt a severe blow to the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire.