sesterces

Finally, they substituted _equites_ (citizens owning 400,000 sesterces who were not senators) for senators as jurors in the criminal courts.

Finally, they substituted equites (citizens owning 400,000 sesterces who were not senators) for senators as jurors in the criminal courts.

So 35 million sesterces can be roughly equated to $15 billion in todays monetary system.

What's the conversion rate for the Roman sesterces in 44BC to USD?

A solidus of gold weighs 8 grams and was worth 100 sesterces.

About same Gaius Appuleius Diocles, net worth 35,863,120 sesterces.

This appears to be supported by the table at the bottom of this page [2], which claims that a seaside villa in Naples cost about 3mil sesterces/sestertii.

India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us.

Diocles, another charioteer, would compete for prizes up to 60,000 sesterces at a time which would be worth 2.5-3 million dollars today and if you look at his known life time winnings you get 35.8 million sesterces making him a billionaire and then some in today's dollars.

> enforcing an up-or-out mentality You win your first election as Quaestor, then you are a senator for life (provided you maintain the minimum property qualification of 2 million sesterces).

There's also plenty of references to the amount of gold the entire military cost at the time (particularly because many coins at the time were minted in gold, so sesterces can easily be translated to a weight in gold).

>Its value, after payment of the Roman Empire’s 25 percent import tax, was nearly seven million sesterces, which scholars have calculated was easily enough to buy a luxury estate in central Italy, or, if you prefer, to pay 40,000 stonecutters for a year.

In that situation people are past looking for empathy, here it's no longer "about onion soup, Obelix, it's about sesterces.

Struck, chariot racer from Ancient Rome named Gaius Appuleius Diocles, amassed a fortune of 35,863,120 sesterces – the equivalent of $15 billion."...

"It is believed that Marcus Licinius Crassus expanded his personal fortune to 170 million sesterces, while Pliny the Elder surmised his fortune to be valued even higher, at 200 million sesterces" [5].

I think this was brought up in another place on HN recently, and somebody argued it's probably a couple orders of magnitude off in the conversion to "today's dollars" apart from the accuracy of the figure in sesterces.