Hoorah for my degree! (er, the one I'm presumably going to have in 3 years' time) That was Juvenal, in his satire #10... "A body that used to confer commands, legions, rods and everything else, has now narrowed its scope, and is eager and anxious for two things only: bread and races." Circenses being the latin that can refer to a race or a circus (because of the arena, which was a circuit). Of course.