The grain dole was set up by the Gracchius brothers before 100BC, still in the time of the Republic.
Considering that the Roman empire survived another 1553 years, we can say that that welfare wasn’t the or even a cause of collapse
Understood - but they later instituted a larger scale dole to support artists/musicians and such...I was disappointed that part of history doesn’t seem as readily available these days....so much is being erased even as so much other data is being gathered about us by those who would rule...
The grain dole is the first recorded system Rome put into effect - even though it’s hard to find info, they got much more ‘liberal” before the end.