Roman Empire Fan loyalty was fierce and at times erupted into sports riots. Racing was perilous, but charioteers were among the most celebrated and well-compensated athletes. One star of the sport was Diocles, from Lusitania (present-day Portugal), who raced chariots for 24 years and had career earnings of 35 million sesterces. Horses had their fans too, and were commemorated in art and inscriptions, sometimes by name. The design of Roman circuses was developed to assure that no team had an unfair advantage and to minimize collisions ("naufragia," "shipwrecks"), which were nonetheless frequent and spectacularly satisfying to the crowd. The races retained a
Lusitania being Roman colonies (Emerita Augusta (Mérida, Spain), Pax Iulia (Beja), Scalabis (Santarém), Norba Caesarina and Metellinum). Felicitas Iulia Olisipo (Lisbon, which was a Roman law municipality) and 3 other towns had the old Latin status (Ebora (Évora), Myrtilis Iulia (Mértola) and Salacia (Alcácer do Sal). The other 37 were of "stipendiarii" class, among which Aeminium (Coimbra), Balsa (Tavira), or Mirobriga (Santiago do Cacém). Other cities include Ossonoba (Faro), Cetobriga (Tróia, Setúbal), Collippo (Leiria) or Arabriga (Alenquer). Under Diocletian, Lusitania kept its borders and was ruled by a "praeses", later by a "consularis"; finally, in 298 AD, it was united with