Cura annonae
In Imperial Rome, cura annonae (lit. 'care of the grain') was the logistics system which procured and distributed grain for the cities of Rome and, after its foundation, Constantinople. The city of Rome imported all the grain consumed by its population, estimated to number 1,000,000 by the 2nd century AD. This included recipients of the grain dole or corn dole, a state-run social welfare program which gave out heavily subsidized and later free grain or bread to about 200,000 of Rome's adult male citizens.