Bread and circuses

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Bread and circuses is a derogatory phrase which can describe either government policies to pacify the citizenry, or the shallow, decadent desires of that same citizenry. In both cases, it refers to low-cost, low-quality, high-availability food and entertainment, and to the exclusion of things which the speaker considers more important, such as art, public works projects, democracy, or human rights.

It originated as the Latin phrase "panem et circenses" (literally "bread and circuses"), and is thought to have been coined by Juvenal, a Roman satiric poet of the 1st century AD, to describe the practice of Roman Emperors who gave unlimited free wheat to the poor and costly circus games as a means of pacifying the populace with food and entertainment. Juvenal bemoaned that it was a deplorable apathy towards heroism.

In fact, after Juvenal's time, the system of free or heavily subsidized food distribution was limited to a minority of Roman Citizens holding a special token (tessera) entitling them to a monthly supply of grain and olive oil from the reign of Septimus Severus. The rations were probably too small to feed a family and the receivers were not necessarily poor or in need of free food. This does not change the fact that the food supply to a city the size of Rome was of primary concern to the emperors in order to avoid popular unrest.

Cultural impact

"Bread and Circuses" is an episode of Star Trek, in which Captain Kirk and crew discover a planet whose society is based on ancient Rome.
In Toronto, a coalition of social activist groups calling itself bread not circuses led organized protests with the (successful) goal of blocking the city's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, stating that the city should not be spending public money on entertainment when so many people were going hungry.
The term gave rise to a famous socialist song sung by women called "Bread and Roses."
In 1960s Brazil, the term was used in the title of the manifesto album of the musical-political Tropicalismo movement, Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis, which contains the alternately-spelled title track "Panis et Circenses" by Os Mutantes.
Bread and Circus is an album by Toad the Wet Sprocket released in 1989. It is the band's debut album, recorded while the four were still in high school for a total bill of $650.
The phrase was modernized and used as the name for an Ebullition Records band that released a self-titled album in 1999 and shortly afterwards recorded material for a split LP with Former Members of Alfonsin. The split LP was not released however until 2003, nearly three years after Bread and Circuits called it a day.
The phrase has been used as a song title by artists including Billy Bragg and Million Dead.
The lyric "And when we're feeling scared we're happy, with circuses and bread we're happy, the whirling fan machines are all we need" features in the Pet Shop Boys track 'Luna Park' from their album Fundamental. The track is loosely based around the idea of a society that takes everything said by a government as the gospel truth, no matter how absurd or fearful, preferring not to have to think for themselves.
The phrase was used by Pet Shop Boys in 'The Sound of the Atom Splitting', the b-side to 'Left to My Own Devices'. "Turn your video onto record, you never know what your missing. Bread and Circuses, and maybe later, the sound of the atom splitting."
Panem et Circences is the name of a track on Ihsahn's Self Titled Solo Album.
"Bread & Circus" was the name of a chain of gourmet/health food grocery stores in New England, and particularly the Boston area. Bread & Circus was acquired by Whole Foods Market in 1992, although it is interesting to note that the Bread & Circus name was used well into the 2000s because of the fierce brand recognition/loyalty it inspired in the area.
"Bread and Circuses" was the weekly broadsheet newsletter published by the Adelaide University Student's Union. Renowned satirical cartoonist Patrick FitzPatrick was a former editor and contributor in the mid 1980s.
"Bread and Circuses" is the title from the 1986's Durutti Column album which includes their hit "Tomorrow".

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