Popular Patronage

Although an Emperor theoretically held supreme power, his position could be destabilised if he neglected key groups, including the Roman plebs. Therefore, through obligation as much as beneficence, the Emperor displayed great generosity (liberalitas) as patron to the Roman masses. He alone was wealthy enough to provide large-scale handouts of money, grain and free entertainment. If another person tried to match or surpass an Emperor’s generosity, it was seen as a challenge to his authority and rule. By playing the role of great patron well, the Emperor retained social control and maintained the security of his regime. The Roman masses supported and respected Imperial rule in return for the Emperor’s beneficence as they could not reciprocate in kind.

The grain dole (anonna) was provided for eligible recipients (adult male Roman citizens) and was often paid for out of the Emperor’s own wealth. After 2 BC, Augustus regulated the number of people eligible for the anonna to below 200,000 citizens. It was reserved for individuals who held tickets of entitlement which could also be inherited or sold. The ‘grain dole’ changed over time; it was extended at the end of the second century AD by Septimius Severus to include free olive oil, and later, in the 270’s AD, Aurelian replaced the monthly wheat ration with a daily bread issue, and also included pork and cheap wine. This practice of Imperial patronage is represented here by the steel-yard, which could be used to weigh the grain.

Free entertainment (spectacula) ranged from stage plays, chariot racing, beast hunts, and, most commonly, gladiatorial combat as reflected on this lamp. The gladiatorial games not only kept the masses busy and distracted, but catered to the Roman taste for violent spectacles. They also provided an avenue where the people could express their gratitude and enjoyment for the entertainment, or alternatively their displeasure for a decision made by their superiors. 

In Rome, the tradition of providing handouts of grain and free entertainment dated back to the Republican period, when individual Roman magistrates vied to win the votes of the plebians. However, as the satirist Juvenal cynically pointed out in Satire 10 (c. AD 100), during the Imperial period, access to military command and administrative posts was controlled by the Emperor, just he controlled the masses through ‘bread and circuses (games)’.