What does bread and circuses mean in ancient Rome?

bread and circuses definition. A phrase used by a Roman writer to deplore the declining heroism of Romans after the Roman Republic ceased to exist and the Roman Empire began: “Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses. read more

Bread and circuses definition, something, as extravagant entertainment, offered as an expedient means of pacifying discontent or diverting attention from a source of grievance. read more

Bread and circuses" (or bread and games; from Latin: panem et circenses) is a figure of speech, specifically referring to a superficial means of appeasement. As a metonymic, the phrase originated by Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD — and is used commonly in cultural, particularly political, contexts. read more

Very few people can stomach the amount of inedible fibre in a bread loaf made with 90% of the final product of milling, and white bread of the kind eaten by ancient Roman elites, uses as little as 70% of the umilled grain. read more