History records that in the year 67, the Roman emperor Nero participated in a chariot race at the Olympic Games. The mad emperor, who would become infamous for all time for overseeing Rome’s burning while he (almost certainly apocryphally) played the violin, crashed in the race but was declared the victor anyway.Nero may have taken things to egomaniacal extremes, but massive athletic spectacles were par for the course. The gladiatorial games wer…