Panem et Circenses

     In 508 B.C. the Roman monarchy was overthrown, and in its place was instituted the Roman Republic.  The government was headed by two consuls elected annually by the citizens. The consuls were advised by a senate. Over the next two hundred or so years, the Roman Republic grew greatly through a series of alliances and conquests. Rome would become the preeminent power in the world. There was only one problem....


     iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli / uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim / imperium fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se / continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat / panem et circenses...--Juvenal, Satire 10. 77-81


     Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties, for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions----everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.


     Just as the Roman satirist, Juvenal said, the Roman people became interested in just two things: bread and circuses.  They were given free wheat and extravagant entertainment by the government. The purpose? Control.  The practice was started by the Roman politician Gaius Sempronius Gracchus.  It was used to buy the votes of the populace, and was a popular measure.  


     The desire for bread and circuses caused the Romans to lose their diligence concerning the government.  As long as the bread and circuses were received, the politicians pretty much did as they pleased.  The politics in Rome became dominated by the power struggles among a small number of Roman politicians. The struggles even led to a series of civil wars among the Roman leaders, all to the vast unconcern of the populace, who still enjoyed bread and circuses.  The victor of these power struggles was a man by the name of Gaius Octavius Thurinus, later to be known as Caesar Augustus.


     While the people enjoyed bread and circuses, the Republic they knew was lost. Rome became an empire with Augustus at the head.

          In the United States of America, the populace has also been pacified with bread and circuses.  There are 45.75 million recipients of food stamps in America.  Not only that, 48.6% of American households receive some kind of government aid.  These statistics are alarming, but no one seems to care.  Just give us bread and circuses.

          Bread and circuses.

          Bread and circuses.

          Bread and circuses; all the while the Republic is being lost.......

       .....and lost.....

       .....and lost.....

     .....because of bread and circuses.