The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States,

Canada, and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.

Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,

wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders,

environment, and geography.

I invite you to come along for the ride!

Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,

Mythbust's historical lies, and rediscover the forgotten stories that changed our world.

I'm your host, Scott Rank.

Hi everyone, welcome to an in-betweenessode where I answer any question that you have about history.

Today's question comes from a listener, Liam, and here is the question.

What did entertainment do to the Romans?

Well, thank you very much. What did entertainment do to the Romans?

This question about entertainment in the Roman Empire has led to a famous concept called

Bread and Circuses, or Bread and Games, from Latin,

Panum et Circuses. Although some classists have told me that the sea is always hard in Latin,

and it should be pronounced, Corkences. It's a shorthand for a superficial means of appeasement.

In political analysts and others have used this phrase of Bread and Circuses to describe

the generation of public through approval, not through actually providing the goods

of the public needs for its own welfare, but through diversion and distraction.

And this is something that goes back to the Roman Empire, and it wasn't identified by later historians,

but by poets of the time. Its originator, Juvenile, used the phrase to describe the selfishness

...