Today's “Rich” Athletes: Paupers by Roman Standards

 

Today's “Rich” Athletes:  Paupers by Roman Standards

 

With the World Cup going on, and with all of the recent attempts by politicians and most of the news media to work the populace into a frenzy of envy with their blather about “taxing the wealthy,” I was reminded of another successful group that is often the target of organized envy-- professional athletes.

 

Most people think that those huge athletes’ salaries are a modern development, probably beginning with Babe Ruth.

 

At his peak in 1930, the Babe was pulling down $80,000 a year, when the median income in the USA was under $2,000, and a brand-new Cadillac cost less than $3000.  He made big money because he drew big paying crowds.

 

But he wasn't the first wealthy sports figure-- not by a VERY long shot.

 

More than 2000 years before F1 or NASCAR, the Romans had made chariot racing into a big-time sport, with thousands of spectators cheering on their favorites in huge “speedways” such as the Circus Maximus.

 

And, as with any big-time sport, the athletes made big bucks.  And they had an extra handicap-- most of them started out as slaves!  But in ancient Rome, slaves could often keep any outside money they earned.  Racers could keep their prize money, and eventually buy their freedom.

 

The best of all these was Gaius Appuleius Diocles (“Guy” to his pals, I don't doubt.)  

 

He started out at the age of 18, as a slave racing driver, and eventually bought his freedom.  He continued to race until he retired at 42.    During his career, according to Mark Golden's Sport in the Ancient World from A to Z, he won 1,462 of his 4,257 races, and placed second 861 times.  They didn't have anything like a “NASCAR Hall of Fame” back then, but his fans did erect a monument to him.  (The Romans were very big on monuments.)  This was in 146 AD.   The plaque from that monument is still around today.  Ya think the “NASCAR Hall of Fame” will still be around 2000 years from now?

 

So how rich was old “Guy?”  Well, according to Golden's book, Diocles made more than 35 million sesterces in total prize money – worth about FIFTEEN BILLION DOLLARS in today's purchasing power!!!  And that was without doing a single commercial for athletic sandals or Acme Chariot Wheels.

 

This makes old Guy the richest athlete in the history of the world.  Not bad for a boy from the slave pens!