
Blood and Dust
In 6th century Constantinople, a special kind of tournament was held every year as part of the city’s founders day celebrations. Known as the ‘Ludus Captorum’, it was a competition comprised exclusively of inmates from the city's prisons racing for their freedom. This spectacle was wildly popular with the masses for the majority of the participants had no experience driving chariots and thus their chances of making it through the tournament without being killed or badly maimed was extremely low (the fact that so many prisoners willingly participated in this race says a lot about the horrors of their incarceration).
‘Blood and Dust’ isn't just a freeze frame of this tournament but depicts a specific heat featuring one prisoner in particular.

His name is Ewan and thirty-five days prior to this moment he arrived in Constantinople from the island of Britannia to procure a holy object buried beneath the Hagia Sophia during its construction five years before. Unfortunately, his plans are foiled when he is caught by Roman soldiers and brought to the Emperor Justinian. Learning that Ewan is a descendant of Constantine the Great (for whom the new Roman capital is named) the emperor extends clemency to Ewan but only if he renounces his loyalty to his king and remains in Constantinople as an obedient subject to him. Ewan refuses. After some consideration Justinian suggests a wager; if Ewan wins the Ludus Caporum he wins his freedom. If he loses, he must serve the emperor. Ewan accepts the wager.

The painting takes place near the end of the semifinal heat. Only one of seven laps remain as seen by the last egg remaining in the up position. Ewan, driving the chariot closest to us, stands out not only for his prominence in the composition but by his long, unkempt hair and noticeable beard. Like all the other prisoners in the tournament, he hasn't had a shave or haircut since before his incarceration. Curiously, the other three charioteers are wearing the shabby clothing of prisoners but are clean shaven. This is because, so far, Ewan has won every race and to make sure he doesn’t win this one, Justinian conspired with his chamberlain, Narses, to hire professional charioteers disguised as prisoners to defeat Ewan while the two watch from the emperor’s loge above.
