Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by red75prime 16 days ago
Correct me if I wrong, up to 40% of Roman citizens were on "welfare". This, at least, shows that it's not impossible to have a functioning society with a large percentage of people who only contribute political activity.
2 comments

These people weren't completely idle for one, and Rome was subsidized by the rest of the Empire, from which it extracted wealth and resources.
You mean they were slaves right
Nah. It was welfare for Roman citizens: cura annonae.