Panem et circenses – Bread and circuses

Panem et circenses (bread and circuses) is a term coined by Juvenal to explain the willingness of the populace (mainly plebeians) to give up their rights and responsibilities in order to have their immediate wants and needs met. It is used by those in power to distract the populace when something that would normally earn the ire of said populace is taking place. The hope is that the distraction acts as a cover or at least calms an angry populace down if things get out of control

When we think of the term bread and circuses (panem et circenses), we normally think of ancient Rome and the Colosseum. While the term was coined by Roman poet and satirist Decimus Junius Juvenalis (more commonly known as Juvenal) in the second century AD, it has become such a common phrase that it used worldwide.

In relation to ‘bread and circuses’, Juvenal writes about the Praetorian Prefect (praefectus praetorio) under Emperor Tiberius, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, describing the downfall of Sejanus in the court of Tiberius, in his Satires, Satire X:

“And now the flames are hissing, and amid the roar of furnace and of bellows the head of the mighty Sejanus, the darling of the mob, is burning and crackling, and from that face, which was but lately second in the entire world, are being fashioned pipkins, pitchers, frying-pans and slop-pails! Up with the laurel-wreaths over your doors! Lead forth a grand chalked bull to the Capitol! Sejanus is being dragged along by a hook, as a show and joy to all! “What a lip the fellow had! What a face!”—-“Believe me, I never liked the man!”—-“But on what charge was he condemned? Who informed against him? What was the evidence, who the witnesses, who made good the case?”—–“Nothing of the sort; a great and wordy letter came from Capri (where Tiberius was living at the time).” —-“Good; I ask no more.”

And what does the mob of Remus say? It follows fortune, as it always does, and rails against the condemned. That same rabble, if Nortia had smiled upon the Etruscan (Sejanus was from Etruria and here he is called an Etruscan. Nortia as the Etruscan goddess of Fortune), if the aged Emperor had been struck down unawares, would in that very hour have conferred upon Sejanus the title of Augustus (another title for Emperor). Now that no one buys our votes, the public has long since cast off its cares; the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else (as Rome had moved from a Republic to an Empire), now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things—-Bread and Circuses!”

Such a great turn of phrase and the phrase panem et circenses perfectly encapsulates how the “mob” work – give them food and entertainment and you can exert influence on public sentiment. Keep them distracted and they will remain happy. Of course, not everyone is like this but generally people like an escape or outlet from the stresses in life.

Like most things, the Romans did it better than most, including distracting the mob. Of course, their most successful methods were holding chariot races at the Circus Maximus or putting on a spectacular event at the Colosseum. Even far-flung cities within the empire had their own amphitheaters and hippodromes.

To be sure, these edifices of the Roman world were not just constructed for these purposes. They were a symbol of Rome itself, its culture and an essential element for any large town or city. The Romans saw these arenas as a way to bring people together and to engage people in the Roman way of life. They were a tool used to accelerate ‘Romanization’ – of trying to get people used to the Roman way of life (particularly for newly conquered territories) with as least resistance as possible. By providing entertainment and food, the hope was that it would make the Roman presence in their town more palatable.

These arenas also showed off the power and the glory of the Empire – bringing in wild beasts from all corners of the known world. No one else could do that, but the Romans. These arenas were also used for executions – criminals and innocents deemed responsible for ills in the Empire (think of the early Christian persecutions under Emperor Nero).

During times of tumult however, these arenas came in handy – games were put on to distract the populace, the emperors knowing that an enraged populace can lead to riots, destruction, military action and a possible overthrow of the emperor himself.

As mentioned above, there were times that the arenas of Rome were used for horrific purposes. One such time was in the mid-60s AD, after the fire of Rome in AD 64.

Speculation began that Emperor Nero himself was responsible for the fire, with the aim of clearing land for a new Imperial Palace. However, according to Tacitus in his Annals, Book XV, XXXIX, he wasn’t in Rome at the time. He did appear to do what he could to help those left homeless, but rumors had already begun to swirl of the emperor’s involvement:

“Nero, who at the time was staying in Antium, did not return to the capital until the fire was nearing the house by which he had connected the Palatine with the Gardens of Maecenas.​ It proved impossible, however, to stop it from engulfing both the Palatine and the house and all their surroundings. Still, as a relief to the homeless and fugitive populace, he opened the Campus Martius, the buildings of Agrippa, even his own Gardens, and threw up a number of extemporized shelters to accommodate the helpless multitude. The necessities of life were brought up from Ostia and the neighboring municipalities, and the price of grain was lowered to three sesterces. Yet his measures, popular as their character might be, failed of their effect; for the report had spread that, at the very moment when Rome was aflame, he had mounted his private stage,​ and typifying the ills of the present by the calamities of the past, had sung the destruction of Troy.”

The emperor was feeling the pressure of the rumors and needed a scapegoat. Whether this is an admission of guilt, or it was an act of someone who needed a political fix and chose an easy target, we will never know. As Tacitus points out in Book XV, XLIV, Nero needed to “scotch” the rumors:

“But neither human help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven, could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place by order. Therefore, to scotch the rumor, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices,​ whom the crowd styled Christians.”

Tacitus on further in Book XV XLIV:

“First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast numbers were convicted, not so much on the count of arson as for hatred of the human race. And derision accompanied their end: they were covered with wild beasts’ skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by night. Nero had offered his Gardens for the spectacle, and gave an exhibition in his Circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a charioteer, or mounted on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt which had earned the most exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity, due to the impression that they were being sacrificed not for the welfare of the state but to the ferocity of a single man.”

Just a note, contrary to popular belief, Nero did not feed the Christians to the lions in the Colosseum. The persecution occurred around 15 years before the Colosseum was constructed and opened. However, Tacitus does mention that he gave a display in his Circus, which would likely mean the Circus of Caligula (also known as the Circus of Nero). This circus was located where the modern-day Vatican City is. It was a private space under Caligula, but was opened to the public under Nero.

It is interesting to note at the end of the Tacitus quote, it appears that the crowd took pity on the Christians and saw the deaths for what they were, deaths by an emperor under pressure who needed a scapegoat.

When we look at the modern context of panem et circenses, we can look around in our own lives in see what is used to distract or influence us.

What does the modern day panem look like in terms of panem et circenses? Just like in ancient times, we have our own food dole or welfare. The government provides sections of the population welfare as a means to get by. We often see our leaders today standing in front of the camera announcing more and more spending, often to the detriment of national budgets. Welfare comes in many forms, whereas in Roman times it was grain to make bread. That’s not to say that the welfare is not needed, but just to draw a modern comparable.

We can look at the vast sporting arenas around the world for our “Circuses”. The amount of sporting and other entertainment events held around the world has never been so voluminous. Then we can look at how much tv, print and radio coverage these events get – for the people who can’t attend their “Circus”.

As previously stated, these aren’t just tools for distraction and dastardly deeds. They can be places of unification and socialization, but they can be used as tools panem et circenses context (at least in modern times there seems to be little persecution going on in these arenas).

The modern circenses also surpasses that of ancient Rome, in that we have more distractions than we’ve ever had before. Think of what we use as distractions today. The invention of television brought the old circenses into all the home that own a television. We no longer need to leave the home to cheer on our ‘blues’ or our ‘greens’ like the Romans did when they wanted to cheer on their favorite chariot team (yes, ancient Roman chariot teams were colors (Blue, Green, Red and White).

Social media is another mode of distraction for modern “plebeians”. Some people can spend hours per day on social media and many people have made careers out of social media. It could also be said that social media ‘influencers’ and those that go viral have used social media as their “arena” and they are the distraction.

This is before we start getting into virtual reality and artificial intelligence. We will start truly ‘escaping’ into a world that is not real. Which, if we are not careful, we could become a slave to it if it consumes our lives. Some people seem to be “captured” by social media already, so it is not too big a leap.

Like regular sporting arenas, social media is not just used as a distraction and used for evil deeds. However, using it in moderation is probably wise. But it is interesting when you can see parallels between ancient civilizations and our modern ones.