The horses scrape impatiently with the hoofs in the sand while the frosting presses against the closed doors. Behind them stands Gaius Appuleius Diocles ready in his race car. The atmosphere is loaded when 150000 Romans sit on the stands in Circus Maximus. The emperor is in his lodge, and like everyone else, he is just waiting for the start signal.
In the same second, as the judge gives the signs, the box office doors fly open with a bang, and during the crowd cheers, the wagons crash out onto the arena—the ground trembles under wheels and hooves, the whips snort. The first trolley rounds the first curve and receives the audience’s tributes.
Diocles is in third place. The boy in front of him whips his horses. The sweat drips around him, and the horses’ backs are white with foam. Diocles leans forward and gives the horses longer reins. The opponent tries to block the way for him but can no longer control his horses. The ship takes the curve too tight, and with a horrible crash, the carriage is crushed against the middle barrier while Diocles storms past. He swings the whip. White freckles cover the horses’ mules and the sand splashes around the wheels.
Diocles can race the main wagon. The spectators rise. Diocles squeezes the last forces out of his four horses. At 70 km / h. he squeezes forward next to the leader ship. The lad tries Diocles into the barrier, but Diocles is first above the finish line – as so many times before.
Diocles began his life at the bottom of Roman society and was probably illiterate. Nevertheless, he ended up as one of the greatest sports stars of his time. According to the tablet that the cusp’s supporters set up in Rome in 146, he won no less than 1462 victories during his 24-year career.
The ancient texts contain no detailed descriptions of Diocles race, but according to the tablet, he led 815 races from start to finish, and 502 times he won after lying just behind the leader for a long time. “And 67 times he won after driving very far in the back,” reads the inscription, which praises him as “the champion of all racing shoes.”
During his career, Diocles earned unimaginable sums in Rome’s most popular sport. On special holidays, thousands of Romans piled to Circus Maximus to follow their greatest passion – racing with tanks.
From market play to Rome’s favourite sport
The first races with tanks were organized, according to ancient authors, in Rome in 753 BC. And were then simple market games that took place on an improvised course next to the river Tiber. But around the year 600 BC erected Rome’s fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus, the city’s first real runway in the Murcia Valley. The simple path with wooden barges became the precursor to the mighty Circus Maximus.
In the beginning, wealthy Roman aristocrats competed against each other in their private tanks. The racing fever soon spread to ordinary people as well, and in the twentieth century BC In Rome, the leadership introduced a system where all Romans could request permission to put up horses and horses in the race for prize money.
Ordinary Romans joined forces and invested in stables, which over time, grew larger. And today, this sport has developed a lot. You’ll find horse racing tipsters everywhere. Even though gambling is dissimilar, the idea of racing is very old.
Win And Play 