| something, as extravagant entertainment, offered as an expedient means of pacifying discontent or diverting attention from a source of grievance. |
| bread and circuses pl.n. Offerings, such as benefits or entertainments, intended to placate discontent or distract attention from a policy or situation. [Translation of Latin pānem et circēnsēs, a phrase coined by the Roman poet Juvenal : pānem, accusative singular of pānis, bread + et, and + circēnsēs, circus games.] |
A phrase used by a Roman writer to deplore the declining heroism of Romans after the Roman Republic ceased to exist and the Roman Empire began: “Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses.” The government kept the Roman populace happy by distributing free food and staging huge spectacles. (See Colosseum.)
Note: “Bread and circuses” has become a convenient general term for government policies that seek short-term solutions to public unrest.