Bread and Circuses: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''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.

(''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.)|''Juvenal, Satire 10.77–81''}})

{{quote|''The best fortress is to be found in the love of the people.''|'''[[Niccolo Machiavelli]]''', ''[[The Prince]]''}}

The trope name (Latin: ''Panem et Circenses'') comes from Roman poet Juvenal's metaphor for people being willing to give up civic responsibility for a reasonably stable status quo (the '"circus'" in question being an arena for spectator sports like races). When the people are well-fed and having fun, they are not likely to protest against those in charge, leaving them theoretically free to do as they please. It's not like the leaders are running a [[Lotus Eater Machine]] or simply [[Propaganda Machine|covering up the destitute]], either. For examples to qualify both the food and the fun have to be real. Where they come from or what they cover up will be the thing [[The Hero]] sets out to expose.

* ''[[Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Overlord]]'': Overlord is what happens when a [[Person of Mass Destruction]] doesn't get his fix of this. [[Ax Crazy|It's]] [[Dangerous Deserter|not]] [[Blood Sport|pretty]].

** [[Discworld|The Patrician]] runs Ankh-Morpork well, so most of his people don't question all the shady activities involved in the running. {{spoiler|Except the mimes.}} [[Vetinari Job Security|So far he's been reinstated after every deposition.]] Although he has been described as Machiavellian, unlike the page quote, he does not fortify himself through being loved (in fact most either dislike or are indifferent to him), but by being ''necessary'', and better than any alternative.

** In ''[[Discworld/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'' some middle-class revolutionaries try to overthrow the Agathean Empire in the name of the workers. Rincewind asks them if they've checked what the workers would prefer to happen. (They haven't.)

** In ''[[Discworld/Mort|Mort]]'', an evil Duke is plotting to murder a royal family to become king. A quick glimpse into a possible future reveals that he actually would have ruled ''extremely'' well.

* The Party in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' goes much easier on the proles than it does on Party members, mostly by and large due to the fact that the proles are stupid and easily distracted (such as a "lottery", where even the winners don't really get anything.)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190717190935/http://www.tnemrot.com/ Domain Tnemrot]. The title stadium is one of these. The people who can afford anything are all entertained with these, or compete with their slaves, and the slaves themselves are generally better off that the horrid scavenging we see at the beginning.