Bread, Circuses, the Government, and Music Image credit: Creative Commons When the ancient poet Juvenal coined the phrase bread and circuses nearly two thousand years ago, he was talking about gladiator fights and the Roman corn dole. What Juvenal was referring to is the fact that largely communities only ever need two things to be content with the way things are – enough food to survive, and enough entertainment to distract. This is a maxim that cynics have brought out to describe governments throughout history, but now more than ever, it appears the driving philosophy of our Prime Minister. I bring this up because recently, Alex Rice, lead singer of Sports Team, wrote an article for the Independent recently discussing the European Super League, and how the Government’s immediate and vicious response betrayed their apathy towards other similar industries – specifically that of live music. His logic was, if the Government can come out in a matter of hours and swear that they will tear the controversial new league down, then they can just as easily come out and promise an insurance bailout for festivals and music tours.