In ancient Rome there was one sport that towered above everything else - chariot racing. These athletes raced in front of a packed 250,000 seat stadium for a chance at glory and wealth, with one man standing above the rest - at least in terms of career earnings - Diocles. The potential former slave whose long career in the deadly sport helped propel him to the top of all time ranking of highest earning athletes.

Tie those reigns to your waist and saddle up as we break down the legacy of sports richest athlete, the economics of Ancient Rome, and the use of the Xylospongium (the infamous poop stick) on our journey to find the wildest story from the world of sport.

Sources

https://youtu.be/TcSsvfTFUh0?si=3KOgpRUg_PpThoQS

https://youtu.be/Rrjtkv5QpPQ?si=0vF6vIC1oBqkZFTW

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gaius-appuleius-diocles-legendary-charioteer-ancient-rome-c-jkncf

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015.

https://medium.com/teatime-history/the-millionaire-maverick-of-roman-racing-gaius-appuleius-diocles-ff5f8c150526

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna38957186

https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2024/08/flavius-scorpus-the-hispanic-charioteer-who-won-2048-races-without-losing-a-single-one/

https://romanempiretimes.com/from-circus-maximus-to-amazon-the-real-story-of-scorpus/

https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/circus-maximus-facts

Presenters:

James Whybrow

Ben Whybrow

Carlin Sheaves

Cover art and music:

Zoe Behrendt