free food and entertainment;
reference to the practice of ancient
Rome of feeding people and providing official
public amusement (circuses in the arena) in an attempt to
prevent unrest. Also known as "
bread and circuses."
the practice in ancient
Rome of feeding people and providing official
public amusement (circuses in the arena) in
order to
prevent unrest. Also known as "
bread and circuses."
a coined variation of the
phrase,
bread and circuses, which literally means
mass entertainment provided by the
government to
prevent the population from causing trouble. This
phrase refers to the practices of ancient
Rome of providing official
public amusements and feeding the people as a means of keeping the populace happy.
Bread and circuses has come to be used more generally to
refer to
government policies that seek
short-
term solutions to
public unrest.