The Craziest Scams in Ancient Civilizations

Ancient scams were absolutely wild. From fake gods and forged prophecies to insurance fraud, bribed Olympians, and even the auctioning of an entire empire, people were running scams thousands of years ago. Which one is the craziest? 0:00 intro 0:18 HEGESTRATOS' SINKING-SHIP INSURANCE SCAM 1:44 ALEXANDER OF ABONOTEICHUS AND HIS FAKE SNAKE GOD 3:27 ONOMACRITUS, THE ORACLE FORGER 4:54 THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION WHO BRIBED HIS OPPONENTS 6:24 ROMAN TAX FARMERS WHO INVENTED DEBTS 7:49 VERRES' ART-COLLECTING EXTORTION RACKET 9:20 ANCIENT COUNTERFEITERS WHO PLATED CHEAP COINS 10:40 FAKE RELICS MANUFACTURED FOR EGYPTIAN PILGRIMS 12:02 THE ROMAN LANDLORDS WHO PROFITED FROM FIRES 13:12 THE PRAETORIAN GUARD'S AUCTION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE