Who is the richest athlete in history? Jordan, Tiger Woods, Christiano Ronaldo? You can make a strong arguments for Gaius Appuleius Diocles who lived 104 – after 146 AD.
He was a Roman charioteer. His existence and career are attested by two highly detailed contemporary inscriptions, used by modern historians to help reconstruct the likely conduct and techniques of chariot racing. He has been described in some modern sources as the highest-paid athlete of all time.
Gaius Appuleius Diocles lived in the 2nd century AD and participated in over 4,000 races, winning 1,460 of them. He earned approximately 35 million sestertii (as engraved on his monument) throughout his career. According to Bloomberg calculations, the charioteer’s earnings are equivalent to today’s $29 billion. Such an amount would have been enough to feed Rome with bread for an entire year or entirely finance the Roman army for several months.
His winnings, as recorded in Roman inscription CIL 6.10048, totaled 35,863,120 sesterces (HS) over a working life of 24 years. From this, he would have been paid an unknown sum by his management team, or his owners. WE aren't certain is he was a slave or free, and the likely amount of his total share can't be confirmed. Whereas slave-charioteers could not lawfully own property, their owners would have kept prize monies on their behalf, against their future manumission as clients of their former master.
Drivers were paid a basic driving fee regardless of their social class, their placing or their completion of the race. Historians calculate that even if Diocles' personal winnings had been only a tenth of the prize money, this would have yielded him an average annual income of 150,000 HS during his career.
Some historians assert that Diocles would have been given all his winnings, making him the highest paid athlete of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment