Given that ancient Rome had a very complex and urban society, I wonder if they had celebrities in a similar way as we understand it today -- although not exactly the same, obviously. I guess politicians or the Emperor would be well known, but did they have famous athletes or artists or just people who were famous for no specific reason - like today?

I'm pretty sure there were famous people in Rome itself, but I wonder if they had empire-level or province-level celebrities too. In that case, how did information about celebrities and their gossips propagate? Books, songwriters, merchants? Thank you.