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

See Examples For:

bread and circuses

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

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2024

My second takeaway is that bread and circuses — the Roman phrase for distracting the populace with spectacle — was in full force.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 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

So died the great Pagan civilisation; of bread and circuses and forgetfulness of the household gods.*

From Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Maisie Ward