Figure of speech referring to a superficial means of appeasement
This article is about a concept in political satire. For other uses, see Bread and Circuses (disambiguation).
"Bread and circuses" (or bread and games; from Latin: panem et circenses) is a metonymic phrase referring to superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal (Satires, Satire X), a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD, and is used commonly in cultural, particularly political, contexts.
In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction, or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace,[1] by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses). Juvenal originally used it to decry the "selfishness" of common people and their neglect of wider concerns.[2][3][4] The phrase implies a population's erosion or ignorance of civic duty as a priority.[citation needed]
^"Definition of BREAD AND CIRCUSES". www.merriam-webster.com. October 2023.
^Juvenal's literary and cultural influence (Book IV: Satire 10.81)
^"American Heritage Dictionary: to placate or distract". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05.
^Infoplease Dictionary as pacification or diversion.
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