1 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Ye confession. I believe that I may have the perfect 2 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: socks for today's episode. There's some socks that a friend 3 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: of mine got me from his travels in Japan, and 4 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: they have separations in the in the fabric for the toes. 5 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: I feel much more agile than I would be wearing 6 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: just normal socks bands. So they're like Ninja socks. Yeah, 7 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: that's that's the way to put up. Yeah, it's like 8 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: the division for the sandals. Picture every Western film you've 9 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: seen in the nineties or something that featured ninja. Yeah, 10 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: so I've got the I've got these. Uh, it's weird. 11 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: I took my shoes off and showed showed you and 12 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: our super producer, Casey Pegram these socks before we hit 13 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: the air. I feel somewhat more athletic in these. Well, Ben, 14 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: we are in a tiny shipping container type box. Did 15 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: you put your shoes back on? Yeah? Yeah, you can 16 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: tell Noll, you can tell that I put my shoes 17 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: back on. I think I think being in a small 18 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: area with your shoes off like that in a work environment, 19 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: it would be kind of rude. No, it's poor. It's 20 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: poor podcast etiquette, to be sure. Yeah, like loudly eating 21 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: or something. Gosh, Ben, are you being passive aggressive to me? 22 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: I'm a loud on Mike eating. No, you're not eating something. 23 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: I'm not right now. But you know, I've been known 24 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: to have a snack occasionally, but I try to do 25 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: it off my contract. You usually do it when we're 26 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: not on air. That's true. That's a good point. Although 27 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: I gotta say sometimes I find it charming when I 28 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: when a podcaster has a little snack on there. I 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: think it's a personal choice, personal preference. So back to 30 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: this this idea. I am not a professional as fleet 31 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: and you and I know each other pretty well. You 32 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: are currently not a professional athlete. I'm barely a professional anything. 33 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: We're barely professional podcasters right. Actually updated my my Instagram 34 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: bio to be a semi pro podcast geek. So that's 35 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: that's what I consider my safe semi pro. There you go. 36 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: We do know that the world of professional athleticism is 37 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: obviously an enormous, enormous deal. It's a huge industry. Billions 38 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: and billions of dollars are spent every year, and billions 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: of dollars are generated every year through various athletic endeavors 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: around the world, and for Peak Behind the Curtain is 41 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: the three of us record today's episode of Ridiculous History. 42 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: We are on the verge of two very big and 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: unusual things for our fair metropolis of Atlanta. The first 44 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: is a definite that's the super Bowl, and the second 45 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: is possible storm, a snowstorm. So we're looking for the 46 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: the snowpocalypse super Bowl traffic jam coming our way pretty soon, right, 47 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: which became a Facebook event that a lot of people 48 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: in town checked in on. Right, did you do that? 49 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: Not yet? So we started thinking about the world of 50 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,839 Speaker 1: professional athletes, and we kicked around the idea of maybe 51 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: doing the history of Super Bowls, which could be a 52 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: cool notion for a future episode. But we also asked 53 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: ourselves a surprisingly fascinating question, who was the highest paid athlete, 54 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: not not just this year, but in history. Yeah, it's true, 55 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: And it turns out that somebody else, uh, someone with 56 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: a little bit more of a historical pedigree than we have, 57 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: a guy by the name of Dr Peter struck who's 58 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: professor at the University of Pennsylvania UM. In an article 59 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: he wrote for Laham's Quarterly, struck Um went into great 60 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: detail about his discovery that turns out, the highest paid 61 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: athlete of all time was not like a footballer or 62 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: or a basketball or wasn't you know some some football player. 63 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: Wasn't Michael Jordan's, wasn't Joe Montana. Joe Montana. That's a 64 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: football players remember him from from video games, mainly I 65 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: like he had. He was known for his effective but 66 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: just very ugly throws. But he had a big old arm, right, 67 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: He was like an armed guy. Most of them do. 68 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: They are very few. Peyton Manning, he's a he's a 69 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: good He's worth a lot of Jakins. And then the refrigerator. 70 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: But no, none of those guys. Turns out it was 71 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: a I'm gonna say, charioteer. Yeah, a charioteer named gas 72 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: Apollius Diocles. Well done. Well, we'll probably shift around in 73 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: that in that pronunciation times. Uh. This is a very 74 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: very interesting guy. He was from an area of what 75 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: is now modern day Spain in Portugal. He was most 76 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: likely illiterate, but man, his chariot game was on fire. 77 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: So there's an inscription set up in the city of 78 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: Rome that was originally created in one forty six CE 79 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: or a d however you prefer, uh, And it tells 80 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: us exactly how much this charioteer from the province of 81 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: Lusitania earned during his oh what was it an old 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: twenty four years as an athlete, as a charioteer. Yes, 83 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: and let's not sweep under the rug the fact that 84 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: that is an awful long time to survive in such 85 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: a intense and brutal and strenuous and dangerous for even spectators, 86 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: let alone the people right in the thick of it 87 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: profession I mean, we're talking like these chariots being drawn 88 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: by up to ten horses. He had like the reins 89 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: tied around his waist, you know, and I can imagine 90 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: a mishap, you know, tearing him him from limb. But 91 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: he was able to maintain this career twenty four years, 92 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: which is, oh gosh, at least four times the length 93 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: I would say of an average you know, football or 94 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: basketball player's career. Yeah, even in these our modern days, 95 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: ongoing studies show us that being an athlete can be 96 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: tremendously damaging to the body and punishing to the mind, 97 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: especially when you get in the world of boxing and 98 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: US football, which you know, leave the door wide open 99 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: to concussions, you know. And I just kind of pulled 100 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: that out of my ear. But it's about apparently, according 101 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: to Business Insider, the average span of an NBA basketball 102 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: player is about four point eight years, right, right, It's true. 103 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: It's uh. Now, this can be longer for some some individuals, 104 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: and of course it can be longer in some sports, right, uh, 105 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: some Olympic sports, you may have a longer lifespan. But 106 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: professionally speak king again, we are at our best only humans. 107 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: So this guy is doing a tremendous job. Back in 108 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: his time as as a chariot's here roll? What what 109 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: exactly would his would his sport have been comprised? Well, 110 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: like I said, he would have been piloting a I 111 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: guess a two wheeled chariot, right, how many wheels around 112 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: to chariot? Is it four? I feel I pictured it 113 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: as being reared back on two wheels, two wheels with 114 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: a team of horses, like said, up to ten reins 115 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: used to kind of encourage them to go faster or 116 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: slow up. And like I said, he actually had them 117 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: tied around his body so he could use his whole 118 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: body to kind of control the horses. And he was 119 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: racing specifically and dirty tricks and in chariot racing. I 120 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: guess I think of maybe cartoon examples of chariot racing 121 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: where all of a sudden, like one of the wheels 122 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: would have like a blade on it or something like that, 123 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: and they'd kind of go up close to the other 124 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: participants and to that blade to kind of grind up 125 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: at their wheel. And I think people would stop at 126 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: nothing to uh to you know, defeat the competition, no 127 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: matter what it took, right. Yeah, And chariot racing was 128 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: a huge, huge deal. It was bigger than NASCAR is now. 129 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: The classes would be divided primarily by how many horses 130 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: were pulling the chariot. A two horse team, a four 131 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: horse team, a six horse team. The earliest account of 132 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: a chariot race occurs in Homer's description of the funeral 133 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: of Patrick Less. These these races were one of the 134 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: big ticket items of the ancient Olympic Games. They would 135 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: happen during religious festivals. Essentially, civilizations at the time view 136 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: chariot races as a really cool thing to add to 137 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: almost any public event, you know what I mean. It's 138 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: like a a a citywide festival or contest. And normally 139 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: these chariot races would proceed thusly, there would be four 140 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: to six different chariots they would compete in a single race, 141 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: and the race would usually be around seven laps around 142 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: what was called the circus, the circus maximus. These chariots, 143 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: we should emphasize, were very light affairs, because you know, 144 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: you wanted to get the maximum power in the minimum 145 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,119 Speaker 1: amount of weight. This also means that they were super fragile. 146 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: So we're a collision to occur. You were up the 147 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: wrong creek without a paddle. Yeah. And to that end, 148 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: most of the folks that piloted these chariots um only 149 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: lived till about twenty four years old, whereas Diocles retired 150 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: which is very unusual at the ripe old age of 151 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,559 Speaker 1: forty two, at which point he was worth a whole 152 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: lot of money. Doctor Struck found that diocles Is total 153 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: earnings would have equated to roughly fifteen billion dollars in 154 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: modern terms. Fifteen billion with the B. You can also 155 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 1: see another great write up of this in History Collection. 156 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: There's an article by Alexander Mettings that we would recommend this. 157 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: This is strange because these were all net earnings to 158 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: the charioteer didn't have to pay promoters didn't have to 159 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: pay you know, a marketing team or support is I 160 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: don't know, entourage or shell out cash for sponsorship. He 161 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: probably had it pretty good. You know, what would he 162 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: have what would he have done personally with that? And 163 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: how did professor Struck figure out this number? On that 164 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: inscription ban that you mentioned, It has his his earnings 165 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 1: in the currency of the time, which is sastercy, and 166 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: that would have been thirty five million, eight hundred and 167 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: sixty three thousand, one hundred and twenty And Struck figured 168 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: out that for the time that would have been enough 169 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: to buy grain to fee the entirety of Rome for 170 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 1: one year um and also was about five times higher 171 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: a salary than any of the highest paid officials in 172 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: the land and also could have paid for every single 173 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: Roman soldier for a fifth of a year. And that 174 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: was when Rome was at its peak in terms of 175 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: its military MTE. Yeah, running from Scotland all the way 176 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: in the far north, Egypt in the south, Spain in 177 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: the western, the Euphrates in the east. He clearly busted 178 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: his hump for this money. And to compare him to 179 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: let's say the highest paid governmental authorities in two months, 180 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: he would earn what Rome's highest paid provincial governor could 181 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: expect to earn in one year, and there was a 182 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: great amount of risk with this. We mentioned the horses 183 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: reins being tied physically to the athlete. When those fragile 184 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: vehicles collided with something, it often resulted in the death 185 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: or serious injury of a charioteer because the horses kept going. 186 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: That's right, there's a lot of a lot of trampling 187 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: um and ben we were trying to get to the 188 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: conversion method. We always plug numbers into our handy dandy 189 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: inflation calculator here on ridiculous history. But those um figures 190 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: that I mentioned earlier were on are on the Stone inscription, 191 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: listening the idea of being able to bankroll the Roman 192 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: army for a fifth of a year. So Struck was 193 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: able to extrapolate a modern estimate UM based on what 194 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: it would cost to pay for our military UM. So 195 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: it's obviously not a perfect one to one, but would 196 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: have been a pretty good educated guess. Absolutely, And oh 197 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: you know what we should do. We should read the 198 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: actual inscription. So here it goes. In the English translation, 199 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: it begins with gayas Appolus Diocles charioteer of the Red Stable, 200 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: Hallusitanian Spaniard by birth age forty two years, seven months, 201 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: twenty three days, and the monument says he raced four 202 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: horse chariots for twenty four years, so we get some 203 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: valuable numbers there. We also know that given his fame, 204 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: there was a snowball effect. He started turning down races, 205 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It had to be worth 206 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: his time, so he would race in the most high end, 207 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: high profile races that had the most potential to win 208 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: a large amount of money. He started in this, according 209 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: to the inscription, in four thousand, two hundred fifty seven 210 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:41,319 Speaker 1: races he won one thousand, four hundred sixty three times, 211 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: and the inscription says that translates to him winning ninety 212 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: two major prizes. Of these, thirty two were of thirty 213 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: thousand sisters, three of them with six worse teams, two 214 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: in races with six worse chariots, one with a seven 215 00:13:55,480 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: horse chariot. Uh he tied with because they had these 216 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: different factions. Right, he was a red stable, right, and 217 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: he tied a Blue stable ten times, a Green stable 218 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: ninety one. And the the this inscription, the thing that's 219 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: invaluable about it is that it maps out his stats 220 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: the same way that a baseball card, back when those 221 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: were a big deal. A baseball card would map out 222 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: the stats of your favorite, uh, your favorite baseball player. Man, 223 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: would these have been like alongside gladiator events or would 224 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: those have been like two different things, because I feel 225 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: like this would have almost been like a like the 226 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: gladiator thing might have been the main event. This might 227 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: have been like a side event, or were they completely separate. 228 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, you know, there's that's a good question. Well, 229 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: there's probably a situation again wherein there were large public 230 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: events that involved this stuff, and they were definitely chariots 231 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: in gladiatorial combat. Its right, Sometimes there could have been 232 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: probably gladiator matches on chariot where they're like coming at 233 00:14:55,760 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: each other, swinging weapons as they pass. Right. So let's 234 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: let's go back for a second to the earlier comparison 235 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: in the world of animation and cartoons, right, how exaggerated 236 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: or how accurate was this depiction of chariot racing. It 237 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: turns out that it's not completely off base. It's not 238 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: completely cartoonish or made up, because these knives on the 239 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: wheels were a real thing, and the charioteers would attempt 240 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: to ram their arrivals into the media at the center 241 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: of the track called the spin at, and then they 242 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: would come crashing into these hairpin turns. They also I 243 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: thought you would find just the pure spectacle of this fascinating. 244 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: During races, it was very common for the three chariots 245 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: representing each faction to team up with one another to 246 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: bring down a very unpopular rival or a very strong 247 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: one like diac les, and bring down in this sense 248 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: means literally grind them into the dust. This violence is 249 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: part of why chariot races were so incredibly popular. Like, 250 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: think about how many people love the Super Bowl. I'm 251 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: sure there's an income brackett to get a ticket because 252 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: those things are thousands of dollars, But millions and millions 253 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: of people in this country watch the Super Bowl and 254 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: pull for a team they love, regardless of, you know, 255 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: their individual demographic. Chariot races were the same way. But 256 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: before television, that's true, and you can also probably expect 257 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: to see someone get really horribly injured, um, you know, 258 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: and and ideally that's less the case with modern American football. 259 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: Or they're trying to pase that out and make it 260 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: less of an attraction. But I still think that's largely 261 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: what people not not not to like taste blood. But 262 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: you it's all about the steaks, right. What's the point 263 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: of like being all in with this if there aren't 264 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: like real steaks. You don't feel like these people have 265 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: something to lose beyond just like glory or being shamed 266 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: or whatever. That's a great that's a great question. I 267 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: wrote a thing a long time ago that wasn't wasn't 268 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:12,959 Speaker 1: part of how stuff works, about the social role of 269 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,360 Speaker 1: sports as a substitute for actual warfare. It hits all 270 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 1: the same notes of tribalism, you know what I mean, 271 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: and identifying with something larger than oneself. This this is 272 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: making me a miss car stuff. No, because we have 273 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 1: to mention these chariot races were also dangerous for the 274 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: audience because the rivalry went beyond lighthearted competition. It became 275 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: as high risk as the races themselves. Think of soccer hooligans. Okay, 276 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: there were chariot hooligans, charioteer hooligans. One guy learned about 277 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: the death of one of the best charioteers in the 278 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: Red faction, and he threw himself on the funeral pyre 279 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: to be burned alongside his sports idol. Dude, that's like that, 280 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: like sports as a stand in for not only warfare, 281 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 1: but like religion. Yeah, yeah, good call. In sixty nine 282 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: a d or c e. The Emperor Vitellius had some 283 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 1: commoners executed because they talked trash about the Blue Faction 284 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,640 Speaker 1: and the emperor loved them. He was personally offended, so 285 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: he had them put to death. And it also reminds 286 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: me of sort of the early days of auto racing, 287 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: like the Laman. Remember we did an episode on that 288 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: where it was absolutely very dangerous just physically to be 289 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: a spectator because if there was a fiery crash, bits 290 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: of flaming debris could go shooting out into the crowd, 291 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: potentially injuring or even killing people. There were several accounts 292 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: of folks being killed at those races, and such as 293 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: the case for these chariot races of you know, if 294 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: you'd have the potential for people in the stands getting 295 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,880 Speaker 1: hit by you know, pieces of flying off of the chariots. 296 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: Twenty four hour Lament. Yeah, we have a ridiculous history 297 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: on that. We have something about the history of the 298 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: race in a series on car stuff too, if you 299 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: if you'd like to learn more about the oh my gosh, 300 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: the utter, utterly horrific accidents that happened in those races. 301 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: We have to say, you know, we we have to 302 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: speculate a bit on the psychology of the audience, because 303 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,479 Speaker 1: maybe that was part of the appeal to be right 304 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: down there in the thick of it, as close to 305 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,919 Speaker 1: the chariots as possible, despite the risk, or to have 306 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: this social identification that was so strong that you would 307 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: want to physically harm someone because they were a Green 308 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: and you were a Blue. It's strange too because Diacles 309 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: was chasing glory along with money, but he was definitely 310 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:48,959 Speaker 1: chasing the glory, chasing the fame because he switched his factions. 311 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: He began his career as a White and then he 312 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: moved over to the Greens because of all the teams, 313 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: the Greens and the Blues were the most successful in 314 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: the most popular right and think of them like the 315 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: New England Patriots if you're a football fan. But then 316 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: he made a switch, He made a switch rue a 317 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 1: plot twist, you see, he transferred to the less popular 318 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: Red faction and this would have made pretty good financial 319 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: sense to him, maybe have given him some more time 320 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: to shine. You would have been a bigger fish in 321 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:26,959 Speaker 1: a smaller pond. Because you see Diocles when he was 322 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: on the Green team, he was just one of many 323 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 1: very popular charioteers. You know, he was possibly a footnote 324 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: in history, but he could become a main character in 325 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,239 Speaker 1: history if he went with the reds. And that's what 326 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: he did. And despite what you might assume, he was 327 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: not the he was not the charioteer who won the 328 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: most racist. He just got the most money. As Professor 329 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: Robert B. Keybreak points out, in the career of Diocles 330 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: room and charioteer, his victories paled in comparison to those 331 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: of other charity tears, such as Scorpus, who had two thousand, 332 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 1: forty eight victories, or Pompeius, most closest, who had three thousand, 333 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,199 Speaker 1: five hundred and fifty nine victories. But he made it. 334 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: He won the game right he retired, as we said, 335 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,719 Speaker 1: he lived a pretty sedate, fun life after that. You know. 336 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: From so he was born approximately one oh four CE, 337 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: and he passed away some time after one forty six CE. 338 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: But I believe his death was relatively peaceful or unremarked upon, Yeah, 339 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: especially given the profession. Right, so, um, by that point 340 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: he I think it was just kind of unusual for 341 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,640 Speaker 1: anyone in such a violent, inherently violent line of work 342 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: to be able to retire. And even though he didn't 343 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: win the most maybe that's because he he was looking 344 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: he was playing the long game right then. I mean, 345 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: he was like protecting himself and maybe not being quite 346 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: as reckless, but he certainly knew how to show off 347 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: and have some flourishes. He had his own signature style 348 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:07,800 Speaker 1: almost like you know, tiger style or like something out 349 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 1: of like a street fighter game, and it was called 350 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: the strong final dash. Oh nice, because he he could 351 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: just pull out all the stops in the end. That 352 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: maybe means he would bide his time a little bit 353 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: and stay out of harm's way and like protect himself, 354 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:21,959 Speaker 1: but then at the end he would like come up 355 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: ahead of the pack. But yeah, it's crazy, man, that 356 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 1: he was able to just relaxingly drift away as an 357 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: old man of what was he like fifty years old. 358 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: He passed away on his estate in the Italian countryside 359 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: near modern day Palestrina, and he lived out the remainder 360 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: of his days in a quiet life. Live in the 361 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: quiet life. You know, he had a son and a 362 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: daughter who later erected a memorial to him at the site, 363 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: and there he remains in history as the highest paid 364 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,919 Speaker 1: athlete of all time. But you know what, my spiky 365 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: sense is telling me that several of our fellow ridiculous 366 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: historians are having a come on you guys moment when 367 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: you say, Okay, so diakles was was really balling back 368 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,239 Speaker 1: in the days of ancient Rome, But who is the 369 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: world's highest paid athlete? Now? It turns out we do 370 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: have the answer, or an answer, because some of this 371 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: depends on how you calculate it. Casey, help us out 372 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: with a drum roll here, if you would be so kind. 373 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: The highest paid athlete in the modern world is it's 374 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: it's Floyd Mayweather, who's um, non American boxer, problematic figure. 375 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: He's gotten some trouble with the law, but he's managed 376 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: to exceed the total of the other of himself and 377 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: the other two top earning athletes in the world, who 378 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: are Lebron James, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo UM and 379 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: that those three had a combined earning total of two 380 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 1: nine million dollars for a season's worth of work. Yeah. Yeah, 381 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: and that also includes like endorsements and partnerships and things 382 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: like that. And this is reported by Forbes magazine. But um, 383 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: Mayweather knocked all of that out of the water with 384 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: something that happened very recently, right, that's correct, that's correct. 385 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: He earned the top spot. You said a little north 386 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 1: of two and fifty mill total. For those other three 387 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: Between June one, seventeen and June one, eighteen, Floyd Mayweather 388 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: earned two hundred and seventy five million dollars. This comes 389 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: to us from a Great Money dot Com article by 390 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: Mike Ayers. Here's the kicker. He earned that not across 391 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 1: the year. Here in that for one night of work 392 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: when he fought Connor McGregor on August seven, two thousand eighteen. Uh. 393 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,120 Speaker 1: Add in his total ten million dollars worth of additional 394 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,920 Speaker 1: endorsements and we get up two hundred and eight five million. 395 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: This is not his first time topping the list. He 396 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: has topped at four times in the last seven years. 397 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: Of course, that's quite a princely sum. But all the 398 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: money in the world. UH, still, with our current level 399 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: of medical technology, will not help you fully recover from 400 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: uh decades of brutal concussions. So you win some, you 401 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:35,679 Speaker 1: lose some. And at this point still according to doctors Struck, 402 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: no one has beaten the record that die at least 403 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: the charioteer established way back in ancient Rome. Makes you think, 404 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: would you do a chariot race? No, man, the two 405 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: wheel thing freaks me out. I would totally do it. 406 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: He always it seems like it would be so easy 407 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: to flip over. Those horses have to counterbalance the you 408 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: into the whole time, and if you if you lose 409 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,440 Speaker 1: the slack on the reins, it seems like your whole 410 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: front end would go into the dirt, or if they've 411 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: reared up a little too much, you'd flip over backwards. 412 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: It just seems like a fool's Errand to me, sir, 413 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: you know, I I see where you're coming from. To 414 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: each their own, I think it would be a lot 415 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: of fun. So if you know where I could I 416 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: could just ride some chariots around. Please please let me 417 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: know you can. You can hit us on our Facebook 418 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: group Ridiculous Historians. You can hit me up on Instagram 419 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: directly at ben Boland. Surely there's some kind of chariot 420 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,919 Speaker 1: simulator you could try before jumping full bore into the 421 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: circus Maximus. I want to go for the gusto man, 422 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: all right, Man, I respect that, I really do. Um. 423 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,440 Speaker 1: You can check me out on Instagram at Embryonic Insider 424 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 1: and Ben, I think you had a comic recommendation today. 425 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: I do have a comic recommendation today. I am a 426 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: fan of a comic series called Britannia, which studies the 427 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: story of someone named Antonius Axia, the Empire's finest. You'll 428 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: love this word, folks, did tection er. He is applying 429 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: scientific scrutiny and rational thought too various mysteries, usually mysteries 430 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: that he is tasked with solving by the mad Emperor Nero. 431 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,679 Speaker 1: It's a great read. It's highly recommended. Uh let us 432 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: know if you've read it and what you think about it. 433 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: In the meantime, of course, thank you for checking out 434 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 1: today show, and thank you to Casey Pegram. As always, 435 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme. Thanks to 436 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,959 Speaker 1: our amazing research associate Gabe Um and thanks to you 437 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: Ben Boland, my friend. Hey, thanks to you Noel Brown. 438 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:40,119 Speaker 1: I got a question for you. Is this uh, this 439 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: comic recommendation is sort of an alternate historical account, kind 440 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 1: of like um like manifest destiny or one of those 441 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: kind of deals without all of the tinges of supernatural stuff. 442 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: It's uh, it's a mystery comic and it's it's a winter. 443 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: It's well done. Let us know what you think. Man, 444 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: Please be sure and join us for the next episode 445 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: of ridiculous History. See you next time.