bread and circuses

American  

noun

1. something, as extravagant entertainment, offered as an expedient means of pacifying discontent or diverting attention from a source of grievance.

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bread and circuses Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Discover More

“Bread and circuses” has become a convenient general term for government policies that seek short-term solutions to public unrest.

Etymology

Origin of bread and circuses

1910–15; translation of Latin pānis et circēnsēs; from a remark by the Roman satirist Juvenal on the limited desires of the Roman populace

Example Sentences

It will be bread and circuses, only with no bread.

From Salon • Nov. 26, 2024

It is the same movie, slightly tweaked and constantly referencing and reminding you of the original, delivering what you already loved about “Gladiator”: strength and honor, bread and circuses, blood and guts.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2024

It’s almost like saying, you can do anything you want as long as you give bread and circuses to the people.

From Slate • Dec. 14, 2018

“Nobody Speak” is a chilling, essential primer in how we got here and where we’re going if bread and circuses continue to win the news cycle.

From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2017

It required a great deal of money to support the luxurious court of the emperors and their innumerable officials and servants, and to supply "bread and circuses" for the populace of the towns.

From An Introduction to the History of Western Europe by Robinson, James Harvey