Bread and circuses

"Bread and Circuses" is a phrase used by Roman writers to deplore the decline in heroism in the Romans after the Roman Republic ceased to exist and the Roman Empire's ascendancy. The phrase is: "Two things only the people anxiously desire--bread and circuses." This was because the Roman government kept their population peaceful by providing free food and presenting huge spectacles at the Colosseum.

The term has come to mean government policies that provide short-term solutions in order to prevent public unrest, as well as to obtain more votes. An example would be public funding of sports arenas, which provide little true benefit to the community but are done to avoid a team relocating (thus bringing embarrassment to the area).