Diocles - History’s $15 Billion Athlete.

In modern athletics, it is not uncommon to find athletes who are paid or are worth astonishing amounts of money. Take, for example, Michael Jordan, with an estimated net worth of $3 billion. But did you know that almost 1900 years ago, there was an athlete whose career earnings triumphed Michael Jordan's net worth by over five times? One man who earned enough in his career to payroll the Roman army at its height or enough money to purchase nearly eight of the most lavish Roman villas. But who was this legendary Roman athlete and how did he become history's highest paid athlete? However, before we look into the history of Diocles, let's briefly cover Roman chariot racing. Chariot racing was very popular in ancient Rome and was broken down into four factions. The whites, which stood for Zephyrus, the reds for Mars, the greens for Mother Earth, and the blues for the sky or the sea, with each faction boasting supporters that triumphed any from the modern era. Factions were allowed to enter a maximum of three chariots in each race, which consisted of usually seven laps, with charioteers commanding anywhere from two to on occasion ten horses, with the events being held in racing circuits across the empire, most famously Rome's Circus Maximus. Now onto Rome's famous and wealthiest athlete. Diocles, or Gaius Appuleius Diocles, was born in the Roman province of Lusitania in 104 AD and was born either a slave or into a family of freedmen, and began his career as a chariot racer at the young age of 18, making his first racing debut at the age of 20, most commonly racing quadrugate or with four horses. And much like modern athletes, Diocles chose his events and teams based on what would garner him the highest winnings and fame, which often found him competing in single races where winning was down to the skill and, well, chance of a single racer rather than numerous from the same team. It is believed that Diocles chose these events specifically as the prize money was most likely the highest. Likewise, it was common to see Diocles competing in specialty events such as the Pompa Circassian, a very prestigious race which he won 110 times. Diocles' overall record was 1,462 wins out of 4,257 races, with 1,438 places, which was not an exceptional number amongst charioteers, but despite this, his ability to entertain and ultimately follow where the money went aided in Diocles becoming wealthy by any standards. In whole, Diocles' career found him racing for several factions, beginning with the whites for ultimately comprising an exceptionally lengthy career of 24 years. So now you know who he is, but how much did he actually make, and what did this look like in ancient Rome? Diocles' career earnings was comprised of 35,863,120 sestertii, or just shy of 9 million denarii, which was substantial by any means. For visualization, that's around 18 townhouses in the Roman suburbs, or the entrance fee to a Roman bathhouse for over 98,000 years, or if he was inclined, enough to have created the Roman version of the Blackwater PMC. As far as conversion goes, it is speculated and debated that these earnings are equal to around 15 billion dollars in our modern era, which really reveals the scale that Diocles' wealth was on. Ideally, however, he didn't spend his earnings on an unnecessary mansion, but that does prompt the question, what did he spend his wealth on? Well, some land in the town of Primis, and well, that's all we really know. The legendary athlete retired at the age of 42, which was rare for any charioteer, and then it is speculated that he died not long after. Anyways, that's all I have on history's highest paid athlete. Thanks for watching, if you enjoyed, consider liking and subscribing to be notified when I post future videos. If you have any questions on this video, feel free to comment, and I'll see you in the next video.