Gaius Appuleius Diocles (104 – after 146) was a Roman charioteer who became one of the most celebrated athletes in ancient history.
His winnings reportedly totaled 35,863,120 sesterces, equivalent to 358,631.20 gold aureus or 26,000 kg of gold, allegedly over $15 billion in today's (2011) dollars based on a calculation equating the budgets of the Roman army and the United States army. This amount could provide a year's supply of grain to the entire city of Rome, or pay the Roman army at its height for a fifth of a year. Classics professor Peter Struck describes him as "the best paid athlete of all time".[4] In equivalent basic good purchasing power, Diocles's wealth would be between approximately $60 million and $160 million.
He most commonly raced four-horse chariots and in most of his races he came from behind to win. Diocles is also notable for owning an extremely rare ducenarius, a horse that had won at least 200 races. Records show that he won 1,462 out of the 4,257 four-horse races he competed in and was placed in an additional 1,438 races (mostly finishing in second place). The ‘champion of charioteers’ is one of the best-documented ancient athletes, most likely because he was such a star at the famous Roman Circus Maximus.[2] 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.
He had an unusually long career for a charioter, racing for 24 years and represented three of the four most famous chariot racing stables (factiones) in Rome, which were known by the racing colors worn by their charioteers (Reds, Whites, Blues, and Greens). He began driving for the Whites at the age of 18; after 6 years, he switched to the Greens for 3 years, and then drove 15 years for the Reds before retiring at the age of 42.[
Aiden Watson
good thread
not being sarcastic
Isaac Parker
good thread
not being sarcastic
Dominic Martin
good thread
not being sarcastic
Michael Mitchell
Based Gaius
Jacob Rodriguez
good thread
not being sarcastic
Jacob Nelson
Gaius Appuleius Diocles was born in approximately 104 A.D in Lamecum, the capital city of Lusitania, province of Emerita Augusta (modern-day Portugal). His father owned a small-time transport business and the family was comparatively well off. 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. Known there as the Lamecus, Diocles brought considerable renown to his hometown.
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” (Wardrop, 2010). 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” (Kebric, 2005).
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, Diocles 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.
Tyler Green
>babby era mutt in time of bloated wealth Literally just Steph Curry
Carter Cruz
His total take home amounted to five times the earnings of the highest paid provincial governors over a similar period
Diocles is famous not only for his obscene wealth but because he lived to retire at the age of 42. Many charioteers died in their mid-twenties. Diocles lucked out. He took his massive earnings and bought an expanse of land in the Italian countryside, near the small town of Praeneste (modern-day Palestrina). There, he lived out the remainder of his days in a quiet life of ease. His son and daughter later erected a dedication to his name at the site.
Although Diocles broke the record of several famous predecessors he was not even close to the 3,559 victories of Pompeius Musclossus or to the 2,048 of Flavius Scorpas, both drivers for the Greens. However, Diocles was selective in his choices of races. He literally "went for the gold," and when his purses were compared with those of his greatest competitors, he was in a class by himself. Even so, his earnings did not come easily. From the statistics given for his career, Dicoles must have competed in an average of 177 races per year. Which means he raced three of four times each circus day. Such a grueling schedule makes the record of Scorpas, who complied his incredible 2,048 victories before he was twenty-seven years old, all the more remarkable.
Dominic Mitchell
>GET IN THERE GAIUS GREAT DRIVE WELL DONE NO-ONE ELSE COULD'VE DONE THIS, GOOD JOB >thanks guys couldn't have done it without you... Thanks for all the hard work on the chariot and the horses were in the perfect setup. Great weekend great work... Thank Jupiter, love conquers all! FUCK THIS SEMEN SLURPING """"SPORT"""" EVERY TIME IT'S THE GODDAMN SAME WHY DO I KEEP WATCHING THIS SHIT FUCK CHARIOT RACING FUCK THE FIC AND FUCK GAULS YES I'M MAD
Alexander Johnson
>not a system baby >show up in big matches Based GOATus
Mason Long
Diocles may not have been any better than some of Rome’s other celebrated charioteers, but he did have one advantage over most of them: He lived to enjoy his wealth and fame. The race- track was a frequent scene of tragedy, and many drivers met their deaths there. A driver could be crushed against the barrier or lose a wheel; wrapping the ends of the long horse reins around his waist could be fatal if he could not reach the knife in his belt to cut himself free in an emer- gency; fouling and interfering with his opponents during a race could have dangerous conse- quences, as could risky 'displays of show- manship. A brief life was often abruptly ended on a sunny Roman afternoon, and the premature demise of a luminary such as Scorpas brought the pens of even Rome’s greatest poets to life. Martial sorrowfully noted the latter’s passing at the end of the first century CE. and spoke of him in the most glowing terms:
Let grieving Victory tear to pieces her Idumaean palms, and you, Adoration, beat your naked breast with cruel hands. Let Honor put on mourning, and sad Glory cut her hair once crowned with victory, and throw it as an offering on the wanton flames of the pyre. Alas, foul trick of Fortune! Cheated of the flower of your youth, Scorpas, you are fallen, and all too soon you harness the dark horses of Death. Why did the finishing post to which you did so often hasten with speedy course in your chariot become the finish of your own life?
Leo Rodriguez
ALL LABOR IS WHAT?
Robert Lewis
Martial also composed an epitaph for Scorpas:
I am Scorpas, the glory of the roaring Circus, the object of Rome’s cheers, and her short—Iived darling. The Fates, counting not my years but the number of my victories, judg'ed me to be an old man.
Others did not receive such a distinguished send-off, but their careers ended just as suddenly. Fuscus, a driver for the Greens, had the remarkable distinction of winning his first time out, but his luck only held for 57 more victories; he died at age 24. Crescens had 686 starts and over a million sesterces in his pocket; he was dead at 22. Aurelius Mollicius had already racked up 125 victories by the time his 20 years ran out. His brother made it to 29 and won 739 times. M. Nutius Aquilius lived to be 35, but he started late and had only been driving for 12 years. Some novices were little more than children when they took their fatal spills.
Although life was a fragile commodity for charioteers, some remained competitive to age fifty and even sixty. The latter were exceptional and viewed as oddities. Since skill not age dictated when a driver began (Crescens’ first victory at thirteen makes Diocles appear aged when he recorded his first start at eighteen) and when he retired, a career could span several decades. Avillius Teres, for example, was racing under Domitian, yet he competed against Diocles in the latter’s first victory in 124 CE. To survive so long, there was little room for mistakes. As if the normal dangers of the track were not enough, drivers pandered to the crowd with novelty races and trick riding that increased their chances for a fatal accident. Diocles was well known for such antics, so it is clear he did not survive by playing it safe It was he, for instance, who first raced a team of seven unyoked horses to victory, netting a purse of 50,000 for his trouble. His skill was also demonstrated by the fact that he reached the hundred-victory mark in a single year, an accomplishment few other drivers could boast.
Luke Cox
HARD
Joseph Lopez
The ancients observed that it was not strength or fast horses that won victories but the brain of the charioteer. certainly, this applies to Diocles, who, unlike many of his colleagues, also had the good sense to know when to quit. Still, he must have left the Circus with numerous scars, since no one was immune to the frequent accidents that characterized the racing scene. Being hurt was bad enough, but the true test of courage may have been surviving the treatment Pliny the Elder describes for curing chari— oteers’ wounds:
Sprains and injuries caused by a blow they treat with the dung of wild boars, collected in the spring and dried. The same remedy is applied to charioteers who have been dragged or injured by a wheel, or severely bruised in any other way; in an emergency it can be used fresh. Some think that it is more efficacious if it is boiled in vinegar. More cautious doctors burn it to ash and mix it with water; the Emperor Nero is said to have refreshed himself regularly with this cordial, trying even by this method to prove himself a real charioteer. If you cannot get wild boar’s dung, the next best is that of the domestic pig. (Natural History 28.237)
Jonathan Long
Kek
Levi Gray
Whatever the real or imagined benefits of boar dung, there must have been other, less odious methods of treatment discovered over the centuries and passed on among the brotherhood. Stable doctors had to know every possible remedy to return a charioteer to the track as quickly as possible. Extended absences benefited neither driver nor stable. Also, a drug problem must have charac- terized the racing scene, since opiates had been in widespread use as painkillers for centuries. The abuse of such substances needs no formal documen- tation to be believed.
Like all good drivers, Diocles had to be an excellent judge of horses and learned quickly which were the most dependable. The best became “captains” and were positioned as the right—yoke horse, which Romans believed was the decisive position on a team. Over his 24-year career, Diocles drove dozens of horses. Nine of them he led to their 100th victory; one to its 200th. He never forgot to credit his favorites, and we know that five of them ——Abigeius, Lucidus, Pompeianus, Cotynus, and Galata — contributed in 445 of his victories. In the year Diocles won 127 times, Abigeius, Lucidus, and Pompeianus participated in 103 of the races. Other chariotecrs had even greater success with individual horses, but Diodes is credited as the best driver of African horses. African and Spanish horses appear to have been the most likely to win, but the Romans also raced horses from Italy, Greece, Gaul, Mauretania, and Cyrenaica.
The names of numerous horses have come down to us, often with their color noted and who the sire was. Few mares are mentioned, so it appears - they were not used in great number. Names were not much different from those applied to modern equines. A white horse was likely to be called Snowy; a fast horse, Flier; an unusually large or powerful horse, Ajax. There were many horses, and names were often repeated. Crescens, Scorpas, and Diocles, for instance, all had a horse named Cotynus.
Cooper Edwards
they tryna be greg
Evan Lopez
this. hes a horsebabby
Austin Walker
Great thread OP. /hisp/ when?
Ethan Roberts
They had hooligan riots in ancient times
>The ancient Roman and Byzantine empires had well-developed associations, known as demes,[2] which supported the different factions (or teams) under which competitors in certain sporting events took part; this was particularly true of chariot racing. There were initially four major factional teams of chariot racing, differentiated by the colour of the uniform in which they competed; the colours were also worn by their supporters. These were the Blues, the Greens, the Reds, and the Whites, although by the Byzantine era the only teams with any influence were the Blues and Greens. Emperor Justinian I was a supporter of the Blues.
>In 531 some members of the Blues and Greens had been arrested for murder in connection with deaths that occurred during rioting after a recent chariot race.[4] Relatively limited riots were not unknown at chariot races, similar to the football hooliganism that occasionally erupts after association football matches in modern times. The murderers were to be hanged, and most of them were. But on January 10, 532, two of them, a Blue and a Green, escaped and were taking refuge in the sanctuary of a church surrounded by an angry mob.
Isaac Kelly
>go to to istanbul to check out the hippodrome >lol we demolished bro
Evan Clark
Over 4k races and no fatal accident?
Christian Gutierrez
>ywn reminisce with old mates about Blues away in 532, when it properly kicked off in front of the Circus Maximus Why even live
Henry Wright
>Diodes is credited as the best driver of African horses. African and Spanish horses appear tohave been the most likely to win. Something never change.
Doesn't count. Chariot racing was different back then. It only counts if you could do it from 1992 onwards
Asher Murphy
kek He's the ancestor of TSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Aiden Rogers
"About this time [AD 59] there was a serious fight between the inhabitants of two Roman settlements, Nuceria and Pompeii. It arose out of a trifling incident at a gladiatorial show....During an exchange of taunts—characteristic of these disorderly country towns—abuse led to stone-throwing, and then swords were drawn. The people of Pompeii, where the show was held, came off best. Many wounded and mutilated Nucerians were taken to the capital. Many bereavements, too, were suffered by parents and children. The emperor instructed the senate to investigate the affair. The senate passed it to the consuls. When they reported back, the senate debarred Pompeii from holding any similar gathering for ten years. Illegal associations in the town were dissolved; and the sponsor of the show and his fellow-instigators of the disorders were exiled."
Well now..we don't really know much of Sintasha culture (of Volga / Siberian steppes) but they were the ones who started racing sports. Including the chariot racing. Those Aryans you know. Their decendants knowns as Scythians had loads of gold and lots and lots of gold items crafted by them are around world museums. They unforrunately left no written documents but I'd quess there must have been extremely rich horsemen back then.
Cooper Baker
>allegedly over $15 billion in today's (2011) dollars
Josiah Baker
Natty GOAT
Christian Taylor
Topkek
Nolan Jackson
How much was wine? Did they actually serve concessions. I could understand maybe some meat or other finger-food but having to get cups for all the spectators seems like something they wouldn't have done.
Parker Stewart
Maybe it was a bring your own cup thing
Gavin Martinez
>born in Portugal >makes catalans seethe and gains notoriety >moves to Italy and proceeds to break all records
TSU FORESHADOWING
Grayson Mitchell
Luv me 'orses Luv me Gaius Luv me Reds
'ate the Colloseum 'ate the patricians 'ate the senate 'ate the Greens
Simple as
Hudson Evans
Gaius is an overrated can crushing statpad babby
Alexander Watson
Come on Diocles in the Red It's very very simple Drive those horses around the track And we'll go doopin' mental! *Clap clap clap*
*Gets stabbed by a Green with his sidegladius*
Camden Baker
TSVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Mason Barnes
And here I am letting my boar manure rot.
Daniel Morales
>literally taking the reigns as the face of a franchise and leading them with your GOATness
Very based
Angel Stewart
nice
Hunter Miller
Green team is the best team to over ride.
Aaron Brown
Green team = Reddit Red team = Yea Forums
This is the objective truth and if you don't like it you can go back
Ayden Jackson
Someone translate the Money Mayweather meme to latin
Camden Gomez
so the best Portuguese atlhete of all time isn't CR7?
Elijah Jackson
lel
Noah Thompson
>Records show that he won 1,462 out of the 4,257 four-horse races he competed in So he won just over 1/3rd of races he participated in, doesn’t seem very impressive
That amount of gold is only worth about a billion dollars.
Landon Ortiz
top kek
Parker Moore
going to be autistic here and tell you that he wouldn't hate the senate, he's got a purple lined toga on which means he IS a senator
Brayden Peterson
He was a chariotbabby
Jeremiah Williams
I saw him. Great sportsman and a humble person. Dont care what the diurnae were saying
Aiden Phillips
based af
and based Rome
Colton Campbell
>BY ORDER OF THE SENATE: GAIUS APPULEIUS DIOCLES IS DECLARED THE WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIX OF THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS AFTER A TIME PENALTY FOR THE GREEN TEAM DRIVER WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED AFTER DANGEROUS RE-ENTRY ON THE TRACKS >ALL GOOD CITIZENS ARE BOUND TO DO HIM NO HARM, EVEN IF THEY ARE ABLE (looking at you green street hooligans) >HIS WINNINGS SHALL BE USED TO BUY A WEEKS SUPPLY OF TRUE ROMAN BREAD, FOR TRUE ROMANS, COURTESY OF DIOCLES HIMSELF >NO PROSTITUTES, ACTORS OR UNCLEAN TRADESMEN MAY ATTEND >ALL MOCKERY OF JEWS AND THEIR ONE GOD SHALL BE KEPT TO AN APPROPRIATE MINIMUM >LONG LIVE GAIUS APPULEIUS DIOCLES
> Diocles was called up to the Green team at age 24. He then transferred to the Red Team at age 27.
Sporting BTFO
Gavin Collins
>Tfw you realise Ronaldo will be remembered FOREVER In 2,000 years they’ll be talking about him and his notorious showmanship (TSUUUUUUUUUUU) and his penchant for scoring goals when his team was behind >tfw Ronaldo has played for team green, red, white and now black He’s Diocles reborn!
History repeats itself... Then who was the Messi of chariot racing
Angel Gray
> hewas born in Portugal He's literally TSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
That’s the beauty of it, in a thousand years or so no one remembers the chokers! He was some team green faggot I’m sure
David Mitchell
I saw Gaius Appuleius Diocles at a marketplace in Rome yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a veretrum and bother him and ask him for a portrait or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my goods up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fiftteen bottles of wine in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bottles and started counting it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to count them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I have no idea what electrical could mean, and I don't think infetterance is a word. After she counted each bottle and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
Jacob Harris
BENEFIQVA does it again
Justin Murphy
his story actually seems to indicate what Eusébio should have done (i.e. left Benfica for Spain/Italy so he could keep winning European Cups).
Jace Thompson
>allegedly over $15 billion in today's (2011) dollars >Diocles's wealth would be between approximately $60 million and $160 million
Jonathan Scott
>left a green team for a red team >tsu left SCP for Manure Yo wtf niggas this dude is actually Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm freaked rn
Zachary Scott
he wouldn't hate patricians either since all senators were patricians
