Note 033
From Chapter 2 of the Decline & Fall

Aul. Gell. Noctes Atticae, xvi. 13. The emperor Hadrian expressed his surprise, that the cities of Utica, Gades, and Itatica, which already enioyed the rights of 'Municipia', should solicit the title of colonies. Their example, however, became fashionable, and the empire was filled with honorary colonies. Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum, Dissertat. xiii.