Panem et Circenses
Greetings. If you know Latin, you know the meaning of these words. And if you are an astute student of political philosophy you will recognize this maxim and understand its relevance to today.
These words translated into English mean “Bread and Circuses.” It comes from Roman poet Juvenal, who wrote in the late First and Second Century AD. The full quote is:
“For that sovereign people that once gave away military command, consulships, legions, and everything that now bridles its desires and limits its anxious longings to two things only — bread and the games of the circus!”
Juvenal addressed the phenomenon that the Roman people no longer cared about political involvement and were satisfied with the cheap food and entertainment given to them by politicians. The great Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero once commented on the “arrogance of officialdom.” Bread and Circuses (which were the state-sponsored games of the Coliseum) simply provided sustenance and entertainment to seek the end goal of appeasing public discontent.
As the wise Jewish King Solomon would say in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
