memento mori

I don’t follow professional sports too closely, but I wound up watching this documentary on Netflix about millionaire athletes who go bankrupt, and it was pretty interesting.

The ancient Romans used to have this ritual called a triumph, where a victorious general would essentially get a parade through Rome, riding in a chariot followed by prisoners from his wars and tokens of his victory. But in the chariot also rode a slave who whispered into the general’s ear “remember that you are mortal and you shall die.”

Perhaps the NFL should do something similar. 🙂

-JM