phrase
Latin
Bread and Circuses
lit. โpanem et circensesโ
Cheap distractions used to keep a population content and politically passive.
Origin
The Roman poet Juvenal coined 'panem et circenses' in the 2nd century, complaining that the Roman public had traded its political seriousness for free grain and chariot races.
Modern usage
A staple of media and political criticism โ TV, sports, streaming, smartphones cast as the modern bread and circuses.
In the wild
Reality TV is bread and circuses for the algorithm age.โ media criticism
Tags
distraction
politics
media