Note 71 — Below is a copy of the deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subjected the whole world to the dominion of the Roman people, and of the amounts which he expended upon the commonwealth and the Roman people, as engraved upon two brazen columns which are set up at Rome.1

The third donation was in 730, on the return of Augustus after subduing the Cantabri. Dio, LIII, 28, says: “Augustus gave the people a hundred denarii (four hundred sesterces) apiece, but forbade the distribution until his act should receive the sanction of the senate.” It would seem to have been unlawful to give money to the people without the consent of the senate. Probably this was a measure of precaution against demagogues.

The term congiarium, which is transferred rather than translated, means a gift, primarily of food or drink, and is derived from congius, a measure holding about three quarts, which was perhaps originally brought to be filled with grain or oil, or the like.