I am vaguely aware of the notion that later Roman emperors gave away food to the poor, in order to retain public order and popularity (the whole "bread and circus" -routine). I have a few questions about the logistics of such endeavors.

- Did Romans know who has poor and who was not? Did they ride to the typical poorer districts to give away the bread, or did the poor people flock to some specific areas for free food? Were they just handing out food to whoever was there to grab it? Did the recipients need to prove their citizenship? Are there any known cases of people getting the food, who did not really need it (for example, in order to sell it for profit)?

- Who baked the bread? Did the Roman government specifically order bread from bakers for the poor, or were the poor just given whatever leftovers there were? Was there a separate system of logistics for "poor people bread", or was it just working alongside any normal food transportation affairs? Was there a guy in charge of the whole system?

- What happened if there were no food to give, for whatever reason? Were there food riots? Were these handouts something that emperors frequently to cut back, in case of economic troubles, or were they rather reluctant to do so (public order, etc.)?

I'm also specifically interested in the period when Marc Anthony and Cleopatra cut out the grain supplies to Rome (although I am aware this happened before the whole bread and circus -routine). How did Augustus handle the sudden lack of grain? Were people starving, dying, rioting? Was there any governmental programs to ease the suffering of the common people, or did the rich just not care?