You missed my point in your eagerness to put out the Marxist version of Roman history. The reasons why the basic income was instituted in Rome are indeed fascinating, but not the point here.<p>The point is: once a basic income was instituted -- for whatever reasons -- the vast majority of the populace ceased to care about ALL other factors in politics. Thenceforth, they only cared about who would increase the basic income.<p>This is a very dangerous situation for any society to be in.<p>Incidentally, the world today is in a very analogous situation. Whereas in Rome the work formerly done by the poor was taken by unpaid slaves, today the work formerly done by the poor is taken by unpaid machines -- just like slaves in most respects, except without the annoying moral quandary attached.