bread and circuses

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

1914 translation of the Roman poet Juvenal's Latin remark panem et circenses (“bread and circuses”). ("Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses" )

Noun

bread and circuses (uncountable)

1. Food and entertainment provided by the state.
   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[1]

     In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

Translations

food and entertainment provided by the state

• Finnish: leipää ja sirkushuveja (fi)
• French: du pain et des jeux (fr)

• German: Brot und Zirkusspiele (de)
• Latin: panem et circenses