[Smokin' Joe]

...but as long as most people have food and distractions, they are unlikely to get violent.

As long as there are bread and circuses, Caesar is safe....

[dr_lew]

Juvenal’s famous lament was made in the depths of Roman decadence, which he felt acutely. “Now that no one buys our votes, the people have long since cast off their cares.”

These remarks were made in the context of the demise of Sejanus, who had been immensely popular, and a presumed successor to Tiberius, but was lynched by the mob, in response to a “great and wordy letter from Capri”.

It’s not as though the populace was being appeased by “Bread and Games”. They were already far gone.