FACTION (through the

See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French, from

See also:

• LAT

Lat. factio, a

See also:

• COMPANY

company of persons combined for

See also:

• ACTION

action, facere, to do; from the other French derivative facon comes "

See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion ")  , a term, used especially with an opprobrious meaning, for a body of partisans who put their party aims and interests above those of the state or public, and employ unscrupulous or questionable means; it is thus a common term of reciprocal abuse between parties . In the history of the Roman and Later Roman empires the factions ( factiones) of the circus and hippodrome, at Rome and Constantinople, played a prominent part in politics . The factibnes were properly the four companies into which the charioteets were divided, and distinguished by the colours they wore . Originally at Rome there were only two, white (albata) and red (rztssata), when each race was open to two chariots only; on the increase to four, the green (prasina) and blue (veneta) were added . At Constantinople the last two absorbed the red and white factions . For a brilliant description of the factions at Constantinople- under Justinian, and the part they played in the celebrated 'Nika riot in January 532, see Gibbon's Decline and Fall, ch. xl.; and J . B . Bury's Appendix to in vol. iv. of his edition (1898), for a discussion of the relationship between the factiones and the demes of Constantinople .