in the film gladiatorA scene from Ridley Scott’s direction with Russell Crowe shows how this works Officials of the Roman Empire distribute bread to the crowd gathered in the Colosseum. It is a quite successful and literal representation of the sentence “Bread and Circuses”panem et circensesin Latin).
This is one of the forms of expression that modern politics inherited from the Roman Empirewhen the emperors introduced the spectacles of gladiators fighting against each other or against wild animals, to entertain them plebs (the city).
In the same film, in another scene, two senators criticize Emperor Commodus for reintroducing these fights banned by his predecessor Marcus Aurelius. However, this is wrong: Marcus Aurelius allowed bloody battles even though he cared about women and slaves.
Just like back then, The sentence is an accusation of the decadence of politics and especially of the leaders who promote demagoguerycharacterized by providing basic benefits and entertainment instead of solving the real problems of a country.
The expression “bread and circuses” appears in satire written by the poet Decimus Junius Juvenal in the 1st century AD. In this work, the writer complained that the plebs were content just two things who received free wheat (bread) and enjoyed grandiose public spectacles (the circus, which included chariot races and gladiator fights).
Juvenal expresses: “Panem et circenses, or since no more votes were sold, the people have lost all interest; once they attributed everything to them, powers, parcels, legions; now leave them alone, they only long for two things: bread and circuses.” In other words, as long as the population remains fed and entertainedloses interest in it political matters and stops questioning their rulers.
Although the criticism was made in the context of the Late Empire, the practice of giving free wheat to hundreds of thousands of poor citizens had already begun in the Late Republic (around 140 BC), at the time of Julius Caesar, Nero and Aurelian.
Several sentences of the Ancient Rome still influences current politics and thinking:
• Divide et impera (“Divide and conquer”). Strategy for maintaining control by dividing rival social or political groups. Used to describe the tactics of governments or corporations that promote division to prevent popular unity or challenges to power.
• Vox populi, vox Dei (“The voice of the people is the voice of God”). Expresses the importance of popular sentiment for political and social legitimacy. In democracy, it is a reminder that public opinion must be heard and respected.
• Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum (“If you want peace, prepare for war”). Motto that justifies military preparation and strength as a guarantee of security and is still relevant in national defense policy.
• Dura lex, sed lex (“The law is harsh, but it is the law”): Fundamental principle of justice that emphasizes the obligation to obey the laws despite their difficulties.
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