Over his 24-year career, he earned a little under 36 million sesterces, or 1.5 million sesterces a year. That figure is recorded on an inscription erected in Rome by his admirers and fellow charioteers to celebrate his retirement at “42 years, 7 months, and 23 days,” going out as a “champion of all charioteers.” This allowed him to earn the staggering sum of 35,863,120 sesterces, on prize money alone. He was an outlier: due to the grueling nature of the sport, the chariot-racer life expectancy hovered around the mid-20s at the time. His longevity and desire to win made him a legend in Rome. Mosaic depicting a charioteer and horse from the Russata (Red) faction, 3rd century AD.(Source: Carole Raddato). He was not only a winner but also a showman, with the coming-from-the-back-to-win on the final sprint being his specialty. Of those 4257, he came first in 1426, with a winning percentage of 34,3%. That’s 177 races a year, or one race every two days. Over those 24 years, he participated in 4257 four-horse races. Five years later he joined the Greens, and after three years he settled down with the Reds, where he would remain for the last 16 years of his chariot-racing career. He started his career with the White Team. There, he became known as Lamecus, putting his hometown on the map. His fame and reputation grew quickly and, at just 18 years of age, he went to Rome to compete against the best racers in the Roman Empire. When he was young, he earned his first victory, in the Catalonian city of Ilerda, current-day Lleida, Spain. A Legend of Ancient Romeĭiocles was born in 104 CE in Lamecum, the capital of the Lusitania province, current-day Lamego, Portugal.Įver since he was a child he seemed destined for chariot racing: his father owned a small-time transport business and he grew up surrounded by horses. One such man was Gaius Appuleius Diocles. Seven grueling laps later, with some forfeits along the way due to upending, the ones able to finish the race in the top three would get prizes and glory in the eyes of the people and the other charioteers. The race started with a napkin drop by the emperor. Plan de Rome du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles. The drivers would run around a track the size of more than eight American football fields (43,000 square meters or 465,000 square feet), trying to keep their balance and finish ahead, for money and glory. Once a week during the 2nd century CE, the Circus Maximus of Rome, an oval-shaped “stadium,” filled with at least 150,000 people to watch chariot races. However, those 10, 20, or even 50-thousand-person events pale in comparison to the spectacles of the past. Lmost a year into what has been a year marked by a pandemic, do you ever just watch indoor (or even outdoor) sporting events, with thousands of people chanting, screaming, and spitting, and go “How did we ever think THAT was safe?”
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