Augustus demanded officials of organizing the performances. These was so expensive that they led the officials to ruin and often required financial support from Augustus himself. It was a way to prevent the officials from getting too rich, which was a pain in the time of the republic.
Such an interpretation goes hand in hand with numerous laws, as we would say today, “anti-corruption”, which were initiated and adopted by Augustus during his tenure. The obligation to organize the Games was pushed in Rome to praetors and included the provision of 120 pairs of gladiators. Tiberius has reduced the number to 100 and has prohibited the organization of the games to private individuals, and Claudius has replaced the praetors with quaestors.
