Bravo Cassius Scipio for your dedication to the people. But what you have done is nothing more than madness.

What you are doing is allowing the Aediles to control the state. They are only tier one positions yet will have more power than the Praetors, the Consuls and the Censors. By providing a few hundred thousand Denarii the Aediles will have complete control over you. When to get your dole, how much you will receive and the quality of the grain. Power of this sort in the hands of such young members will make you nothing more than slaves to them. You will be forced to beg or to give your votes to them and all you will get in return will be a measly cup of grain. You can wave goodbye to your games citizens. For they will have no money left to put them on or no desire to. They will not have to win your support through entertainment for they will have forced your subjection by control of your food supply.

Whilst this bill at first appears as one that will help you, it will in fact do nothing more than make you subjects once again to tyrannical Aediles. Your power will be gone as the decisions over your food will rest on power hungry young members of state. I would trust this grain dole in the hands of members of the Equus class who do not need your favour to rise their position in the Senate. But the Aediles would starve you and your children, only giving you your food in return for your votes. They will have no need to repair the streets, for if you moan or complain they will withhold your food. They will not provide such spectacles as I have put on, for if you raise your voices they will withhold your food. If you do not vote for them into higher offices then they will withhold your food.

The Aedile is a job of maintenance. They maintain your roads and your temples and your baths, but they are not meant to control your food supply. By voting for this law not only will your city around you fall into decay and disrepair, but you will all go hungry. They will squeeze you for more and more and in return give you less and less until you are to beg and plead and offer everything you have for a single cup of grain. Whilst I agree with the idea of a grain dole increase for you fine people, I do not agree with the manner in which it is given proposed by this lex. Putting it in the hands of the Aediles will have grave consequences for you and it should rest outside the August body of the Senate for your protection and your safety.