Ο πιο ακριβοπληρωμένος αθλητής όλων των εποχών

[Nero]

Rome’s most popular spectator sport, chariot racing was held regularly (on 66 days of the year in the fourth century ce, usually with 24 races/day), drew the biggest crowds, and persisted from early Rome into the Byzantine Empire. Like modern horse racing, Roman chariot racing had grand tracks, magnificent thoroughbreds from stud farms, excited fans, tight races, betting, and victory purses. As at modern racecar speedways, thousands of spectators assembled in a vast facility to witness speed, skills, and thrills, to see stars risk their lives in races put on by an elaborate network of personnel from officials to fast food vendors. During the Republic chariot racing developed distinctive features, such as the factions and the design of the venue, and the Empire saw even more expansion, elaboration, and parapolitical interaction at the Circus.4 The factions continued under the Empire as commercial organizations and as groups of fans. The emperors monopolized the arena, but the circus factions retained their private status and their influence for centuries. Perhaps the emperors were reluctant to interfere with the traditional arrangements, or they economized by renting the factions’ valuable resources. In the late third century ce, however, former charioteers came to replace the equestrian businessmen who traditionally ran the factions (see Chapter 16). The change fit a broader pattern of veteran entertainers running organizations for athletes and other performers. Devoted to their teams or colors, the factions of spectators were highly vocal about the races and about current events. Like the amphitheater, the circus was a surrogate assembly that offered the people a chance to see and—normally—interact safely with emperors.

[Μαύρο Πρόβατο]

Πολύς λόγος γίνεται σήμερα για τους υψηλά αμειβόμενους αθλητές, αστέρες του ποδοσφαίρου ή ολυμπιονίκες. Σύμφωνα με το Forbes, οι πρώτοι πέντε αθλητές με τις μεγαλύτερες αμοιβές για το 2016 είναι οι:
- Κριστιάνο Ρονάλντο (ποδοσφαιριστής-82 εκατομμύρια ευρώ),
- Λιονέλ Μέσι (ποδοσφαιριστής-76 εκατομμύρια ευρώ),
- Λεμπρόν Τζέιμς (καλαθοσφαιριστής-72 εκατομμύρια ευρώ),
- Ρότζερ Φέντερερ (τενίστας-63,8 εκατομμύρια ευρώ) και
- Κέβιν Ντουράντ (καλαθοσφαιριστής-52,8 εκατομμύρια ευρώ).

...

Τοσα λεφτα επειδη εμαθαν να κλωτσαν/πεταν/χτυπαν μια μπαλα...

Ναι αλλά όλοι παίρνουν λιγότερα απο τον Διοκλή

Λες να εχω ελπιδα κι εγω;

Το ιχωρ κυλαει μεσα μου.

[Nero]

The Colosseum. We’ve seen it in countless pieces of media – stellar movies such as “Gladiator”, or videogames like “Shadow of Rome”. We’ve watched documentaries, some of us have even visited this historical site ourselves, but not too many suspect just how important it was in gambling history. It was completed in 80 AD after only 10 years of work (which just blows my mind on so many levels – we’re talking about a building roughly the size of a shopping mall, with numerous tunnels, elevators and even canals for ship battles, and it was designed and completed within 10 years 2000 years ago) and was meant to be Emperor Vespasian’s gift to the people. Of course, that “gift” most likely came with certain implications meant to fill his own pockets.

The thing that I should point out before I continue onwards with this article is that gambling was particularly common in Rome (it was a custom which, among many things, they took from the Greeks), to the point where Romans often prayed and gave offerings to the goddess Fortuna for good luck during gambling. Everybody, from the Emperor down to the lowest peasant, gambled, and despite the fact that we so often associate gladiators with the Colosseum, gladiator schools existed hundreds of years before it was ever conceived. However, most arenas were privately owned, and as a result were out of the Emperor’s reach. By inviting them to the biggest arena right in the center of Rome, literally down the street from the Roman Forum, he had the perfect excuse to tax them. Gambling, on the other hand, was not taxed, which is quite peculiar – today, all gambling activities are susceptible to pretty huge taxes, so why was gambling in ancient Rome not taxed, considering just how popular it was? Well, we’re getting into some complicated waters here, so stick with me.

You see, the Romans loved their gambling a little too much, to the point where it often inspired riots and other misdemeanors. Sure, today it may seem strange to imagine that simply betting on a gladiatorial match or a game of dice could inspire a riot, but it’s not all that different from events that transpire today during, say, football matches. Regardless, gambling was legally outlawed during the reign of Emperor Augustus, with the compromise that common folks were only ever allowed to bet during Saturnalia – a week-long festival dedicated to the god Saturn. As a result, gambling was officially considered a “holy” activity and could not be taxed. On the other hand, Roman officials were pretty much the proto example of “Do as I say, not as I do”, and quite often engaged in gambling activities between themselves despite the ban. Augustus himself once lost 30,000 sesterces while betting on a Colosseum match (30 times more than a soldier’s annual salary).

Now that we’ve explored the basics of gambling in ancient Rome, let’s take some time to list a couple of random facts! It’s important to note that women, while allowed to watch the gladiatorial games (after all, many of the product endorsements that the gladiators did catered specifically to housewives…(Στύγιος ) so not a lot has changed in the past 2000 years), but they were not allowed to bet on them, not even during Saturnalia. Instead, they had their own festival – Bona Dea – where they could bet on various games. Speaking of games, dice were very popular as a means of betting in or around the Colosseum, sometimes even more so than betting on the events happening in the Arena! To some Romans, gambling was merely one of the many attractions that the Colosseum had to offer rather than the main event. Of course, with the prevalence of dice games, many dealers began using loaded dice in order to achieve their desired results and scam poor people out of their money. It’s unknown whether such scams happened during betting on gladiatorial matches or other Colosseum attractions, but I’d be willing to bet they did.

That about sums it up! In conclusion, outside of Rome’s elite who had very little regard for their own laws, the majority weren’t allowed to gamble or bet despite really wanting to (aside from one week a year). Perhaps with a bit of foresight, and some regulation, the Emperor could’ve earned even more profits from his undoubtedly highly expensive “gift” to his people, but alas, with all the things that were similar at the time, an equal number were also quite different.`

http://www.ancientsandals.com/gambling- ... sseum.html

[alekhine]

Gladiators were real stars, and their names and pictures graced many things like lamps, jewellery and other merchandise. Rich wives would pay large sums to the Gladiators owner, the Lanista, for spending a night together with these popular and virile guys. A gladiator fight was rarely a fight to the death, as movies tend to show it. If a Gladiator had to be killed, a sponsor had to pay the expenses and there weren’t that many sponsors.

http://legionord.org/index.php/en/gladi ... -gladiator

ειχαν και τα τυχερα τους εκτος αρενας οι μονομαχοι δλδ

[Nero]

Gladiators were real stars, and their names and pictures graced many things like lamps, jewellery and other merchandise. Rich wives would pay large sums to the Gladiators owner, the Lanista, for spending a night together with these popular and virile guys. A gladiator fight was rarely a fight to the death, as movies tend to show it. If a Gladiator had to be killed, a sponsor had to pay the expenses and there weren’t that many sponsors.

http://legionord.org/index.php/en/gladi ... -gladiator

ειχαν και τα τυχερα τους εκτος αρενας οι μονομαχοι δλδ

και μέσα και έξω

Crowe got it wrong: gladiators were the film stars of Rome

Analysis of bones found at Ephesus reveals that the fighters were rich, pampered professionals with groupies in tow

Hannah Cleaver in Berlin Sunday February 9, 2003 The Observer

Far from the Hollywood image of a grubby desperado fighting for his life in a lawless arena of horror, the real-life Roman gladiator was a highly trained and pampered professional - rich, famous and pursued by groupies.

New research has poked massive holes in the long-accepted image of gladiators as poor wretches sent to gruesome deaths in front of crowds baying for blood.

Gladiators were in fact provided with the best food and healthcare during their years of training and were given the best medical treatments: they were the football stars of their day, with sponsorship deals and a share of the prize money.

'Much of that film stuff is simply wrong,' said Professor Klaus Grosschmidt of Vienna University. 'The images in Gladiator were faulty, Russell Crowe's kit was all wrong and they were not set up against unbeatable odds. That would not have been a good show for the crowd.

'There were referees in the arenas, and the weapons and protection the fighters had were carefully chosen to ensure a fair fight.'

Grosschmidt has been working with experimental archaeologists from Munich University on remains of gladiators found in Turkey. The dig was at the site of the ancient city of Ephesus.

He is using his medical expertise to extract clues about the daily lives of the gladiators from skeletons nearly 2,000 years old.

'This is the first time nutrition, training and fight injuries can be directly investigated from their bones,' he said.

'The medical attention they received was second to none. The most famous doctor of the times, Galenus, treated gladiators at Ephesus.'

Grosschmidt described how the gladiators were the equivalent of today's football stars, although they had no rights and could be bought and sold at will.

Many gladiators were sentenced by courts to fight, but just as many volunteered for the chance of fame and fortune. They spent at least three years in a training camp, where they ate the best food with a view to developing a layer of fat over their muscles the better to sustain cut wounds.

'These camps were closed - they could not leave of their own free will,' Grosschmidt said. 'But they received female visitors - groupies - often women of good families who would sneak into the camps for assignations. One gravestone even boasted that the dead gladiator was 'the favourite of women in the night'.

'They were famous not only from the fights themselves, but also because they would advertise ahead of the fights in order to encourage people to bet on them.'

Judicious selection of weapons and pairing of fighters were combined with the use of referees to make sure the fights were fair. The gladiators' training included a certain amount of choreographed moves.

'Boxing is really the only comparable sport of today,' Grosschmidt said. 'There were many fights and it was well organised, with a number of short fights one after another, although the crucial difference is that the gladiators were fighting for their lives, making the essence of the fighting very different.'

The audience did have a say in the fate of the loser, who could survive to fight another day if he had put up a good show.

Going to gladiator fights was considered a more intellectual pastime than going to the theatre - the fights promoted principles of honour, bravery and fearlessness in face of death, while plays were merely entertainment.

This principle also applied to the wild animals often used in the spectacles. 'There was even one lion that was buried with a gravestone because it had killed many gladiators and was therefore honoured,' Grosschmidt said

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/839034/posts

οι κατάδικοι σαν τον Ράσελ κρόου και τον Βαραβά δεν είχαν σχέση με τους επαγγελματίες. Αυτούς τους έδιναν ένα στομωμένο σπαθί και μια σκουριασμένη πανοπλία και ουσιαστικά τους εκτελούσαν με θεατρικό τρόπο στο ημίχρονο. Οι επαγγελματίες, οι σουπερ σταρς, ήταν οι εκτελεστές

[Nero]

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