Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a man from the area of what is now Spain and Portugal, is the highest-paid athlete the world has ever known.
The Roman chariot racer‘s career earnings, marked down with admirable permanence in a stone inscription, totaled 35,863,120 sesterces, the ancient Roman coins.
Dr. Peter Struck, associate professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, using a comparative method, extrapolated recently a modern-day net worth of something around 15 billion dollars.
Struck said: “Twenty-four years of winnings brought Diocles — likely an illiterate man whose signature move was the strong final dash — the staggering sum of 35,863,120 sesterces in prize money.
“The figure is recorded in a monumental inscription erected in Rome by his fellow charioteers and admirers in 146, which hails him fulsomely on his retirement at the age of ’42 years, 7 months, and 23 days’ as ‘champion of all charioteers’.”
Diocles is believed to have started racing at the age of 18 in Ilerda (modern-day Catalonia) and quickly gained a reputation good enough to get himself called up to the big leagues in Rome.
Diocles changed teams in ancient Rome
He had a nomadic career, starting at 18 with the Whites, before moving on for a brief stint with great rivals the Greens. But he had the most success with the Reds, with whom he remained until his retirement at the ripe old age of 42 years, seven months and 23 days.
Once in Rome, Diocles began driving for the White team. In Rome at this time, “competitors were affiliated to teams – not dissimilar to those of today’s Formula 1 – which invested in training and development of horses and equipment” with the players of the lowest team, the White team, “usually drawn from the lower orders of society”, Professor Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins of Oxford University said.
Being a natural charioteer, Diocles was called up to the Green team at age 24. He then transferred to the Red Team at age 27. This was a bold move because of the popularity of the Greens, but Diocles suffered no apparent damage.
Some historians speculate that Diocles switch from the popular Greens to the Reds had a simple motivation: wealth and glory. The Greens were undoubtedly the most popular and attracted the greatest racers.
By switching to the Red team, he ensured that he would stand out as the greatest of the Reds – and reap the financial benefits that went along with it. Being the best in the field also seems to have allowed Diocles to perfect his showmanship.
Many of his victories took the form of a “come from behind” crossing of the finish line at the last possible moment. The crowds loved it. Any race with Diocles quickly became the ‘featured event’ of the day. This naturally helped Diocles make even more money.
His monumental income was five times that of the highest-paid provincial governors of the time and would have been enough to buy grain for the entire population of Rome for a year.
Such was his fame that on his retirement fans and fellow charioteers erected a huge monument in Rome, hailing him as the “champion of all charioteers.”
Related: Sportsmen in Ancient Greece and Rome Were Celebrities, Won Grand Prizes, Toured and Even Unionized
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