the world's highest paid athlete

jason kottke notes that the world's highest paid athlete was a 2nd century roman charioteer named Gaius Appuleius Diocles. his total pay equates to 5x the earnings of the highest paid provinicial governor during the same period. a sum so hefty it could provide grain for the entire city of Rome for one year, or in today's terms, cash out to about $15 billion. to put this into perspective, federer earns about $36 mm per year and tiger about $105 mm.