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
RMS Lusitania 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of at 14:10. Due to the liner's great speed, some believe the intersection of the German U-boat and the liner to be coincidence, as "U-20" could hardly have caught the fast vessel otherwise. There are discrepancies concerning the speed of "Lusitania", as it had been reported travelling not near its full speed. Walther Schwieger, the commanding officer of the U-boat, gave the order to fire one torpedo, which struck "Lusitania" on the starboard bow, just beneath the wheelhouse. Moments later, a second explosion erupted from within