Star Trek (TV Series) Bread and Circuses (1968) User Reviews

The Romans have always been the Strongest

[Bogmeister · 8/10 · 30 December 2006]

By this point, we begin to see a pattern in Roddenberry's approach to Trek science fiction; he's not interested so much in cosmic concepts as he is in addressing social & political concerns of the present day through the filter of the Trek universe. He's not concerned with believable science fiction concepts in presenting other worlds which should have very different evolutionary stages from our own history. Hence, we've had the virus-stained 'Satan Bug/Omega Man world' ("Miri"), 'gangster world' ("A Piece of the Action" - admittedly a comedy), Nazi world ("Patterns of Force") and 'World War III world' ("Omega Glory"), all just like our own Earth except for a shift in their history to differentiate them. The proper way was to present stories in a parallel universe, but this was a space travel show, so Roddenberry was kind of stuck by his own premise (he includes a brief mention of 'Hodgkin's Law' here to explain the parallel development). Now we have 'Roman Empire' world, a rather effective precursor to the films "Westworld" and "Rollerball" - the title refers to keeping the populace, the mob, satiated with blood sports.

On this world, the Roman Empire never fell, as if continuing for several hundred more years rather than falling apart as it did on our Earth in the 4th - 5th centuries. Gladiatoral combat is on display again (not as silly as in "Gamesters of Triskelion"), now shown on TV rather than the old-time arenas. Cops or Centurians run around with machine guns, wearing motorcycle helmets (see also "Soylent Green" in 1973), but still have swords for the sake of tradition. Slavery has evolved, as well, with most slaves complacent due to an extension of some meager benefits over the centuries (again, a more effective presentation than the cheesy "Gamesters..."). Quite a few concepts were thought out, including some commentary on religion, and most of it comes across as a serious, adult approach. Indeed, there's a coarseness to much of this episode, an edge, reflecting the cruelty of the culture - this empire was a much earlier version of the brutal Nazi regime, after all.

As we've become accustomed to by now, the main trio (Kirk,Spock,McCoy) are the ones who beam down to muck about in this intriguing yet dangerous culture. What comes as a surprise is that they actually adhere to the precepts of their Prime Directive in this one and it shows how tough this directive can be - ironic as this was the time I was kind of hoping Kirk would decide non-interference be damned (again) and lay waste to a city or two in teaching that fat proconsul a lesson in power; the episode succeeds in repelling the viewer to such an extent with all the unpleasantness on this planet that you wouldn't mind the Enterprise 'going Roman' on a few key establishments. The edginess extends to the Spock-McCoy relationship, in that fateful scene when McCoy spells out Spock's fear of living in their jail cell (both appear to accept that death is inevitable for them this time - it is that grim); McCoy's verbal attack appears to be a personal triumph for him but is he so successful at it because he knows what a death wish is like? The scene recalls their tension in "The Immunity Syndrome."

One of my personal favorites!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 10 November 2017]

One of my personal favorites! Kirk and the gang investigate the disappearance of a crew on a planet which has a modern Roman Empire. There is slaves, power worship of the state, and televised gladiator events. The gem of Bread and Circuses is the dialogue and interaction between Claudius Marcus and Kirk! The rebellion, the persecuted and gladiatorial event are entertaining; Spock saves McCoy with the old Vulcan nerve pinch. How many times Spock has Spock used it? A traitor, a surprise ending and what the rebel are about makes for a great ending. Live Star Trek theater a good vibe episode. Eight out of ten stars.

"If he is your friend, you are no friend of ours".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 4 January 2011]

As the second season of the series was about to wind down, it was probably a good idea for Roddenberry and his writers to come up with the Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development. There had been more than the expected number of episodes taking place on Class-M planets, and so many story lines resembling Earth history that the law of averages was being severely tested. This one also rolled out the gladiatorial theme once again, just as it did in #2.1 Amok Time and #2.21 The Gamesters of Triskelion. Not that it's a bad story if approached as a stand-alone, but when watching the shows in succession, the repetition is palpable.

The recurring theme that got my attention was Roddenberry's analysis of slavery in the story, and how it evolved into an institution on the planet. He often approached his plots with a subtext of personal freedom and liberty, and in this one he takes a slam at the way government power willingly offers such things as rights to medicine and old age pensions in exchange for those singular blessings. When done incrementally, it's almost never observed until it's too late, and then the citizenry wonders what ever happened. It's a political approach that continues to be tested to the present day.

I'm curious how Roddenberry would be accepted (read that not accepted) today for the conclusion voiced by Uhura at the end of this story. Liberal ideology and political correctness would have shouted down even an oblique reference to 'The Son' as it was positioned here. Lost would be the message that all men are brothers, even if that was the basic precept of Christianity.

But boy oh boy, Captain Kirk really walked into it this time when he met Drusilla (Lois Jewell). I'm not buying the argument that old Claudius was being generous with his personal slave, but I'm sure the Captain didn't mind. This was definitely one off screen occasion that left no room for doubt what Kirk might have been doing while observing the Prime Directive. He was engaged in a little bit of directive of his own.

You bring this network's ratings down...

[tavives · 7/10 · 3 September 2013]

While this is an enjoyable episode, one of the things that sets it apart is that it has some great lines in it.

"Doctor, if I were able to show emotion, your new infatuation with that term would begin to annoy me."

"Really, Doctor? I had no idea they were trained. Watching you, I assumed it was trial and error."

"You bring this network's ratings down and we'll do a special on you!"

"Fight, you pointed-eared freak!"

"I'm trying to thank you, you pointy-eared hobgoblin!"

"Oh...we've preempted 15 minutes on the early show for you...in full color. I guarantee you a splendid audience."

If nothing else, this episode gets high marks for the script.

A Tragic Ending Worthy of Conrad

[Dan1863Sickles · 6/10 · 10 February 2011]

What makes this episode memorable to me after nearly forty years is not the tired, clumsy gladiator swordfights -- and certainly not the historically dubious tributes to Christianity as a religion of peace.

The power of this episode actually comes from the backstory of the minor villain, Merrick aka "Mericus." The real theme of this episode is the redemption of a man who once dreamed of being a Starship Captain, like Kirk, but was doomed by a single moment of cowardice to a lifetime of self-loathing. This is basically a retelling of LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad, with perhaps a dash of THE SHORT HAPPY LIFE OF FRANCES MACOMBER by Ernest Hemingway.

The clues come right away that Merrick is disgusted with himself. He's supposed to be questioning Kirk but really he's the one begging to be heard out, to be absolved. "Lots to talk about, Jim. Lots to explain." Later, when Kirk is absolutely ice-cold under pressure, watching Spock and McCoy face death in the arena, Merrick helpfully points out, "Proconsul, he commands not only a space ship, but a star ship. A very special ship, and crew. I once tried for such a command." Poor Merrick does everything but break down and bawl here. "I coulda been a contendah!"

The truly vile specimen in this episode is the proconsul, a fat little man who never gets tired of rubbing salt in Merrick's wounds. Watch how he makes Merrick pat Kirk down for weapons like a flunky. And listen for that little dig, "the thoughts of one man to another cannot possibly interest you, Merrick." All this stuff is a lot more hateful -- and closer to everyday life for most of us -- than sending men to die in the arena. And it's all the more grim in that this repulsive punk of a proconsul is still alive at the end, and will presumably live to die in bed, evil and unpunished. Tough stuff.

But in the end, what real uplift this episode provides is not Uhura's asinine speech about "The Son" but watching Merrick grab that communicator and shout, "Enterprise, lock on to this transmission. Three to beam up -- ACK!!!!"

Merrick lived a coward, but dies a hero -- in a tragic ending worthy of Conrad.

"It's not the sun up in the sky. It's the ..."

[Blueghost · 4 June 2009]

Communication's officer Lieutenant Uhura sums up the decline and fall of the Roman Empire as the world knows it. The plot is really secondary. It's there to drive the story forward, but the underlying theme tells of the human condition via a reign of pure strength, and its ultimate failure.

This theme is reinforced by one of the supporting characters, an escaped 20th century Roman gladiator, Flavius, and his ultimate sacrifice. He represents the old way, once reformed, but gone back to the rule of Rome by fighting the Romans the only way he knows how.

The basic story is a rescue mission, but the real story is the heartfelt examination of the futility of a society that relies on a slave class to sustain itself on all levels, even down to bloody gladiatorial games as entertainment. Kirk is put through the rigors of experiencing both the pains and pleasures of such a society, and although he understands that he cannot change this world, he does help reinforce the message that will ultimately alter it and its Roman Empire on the most fundamental level.

Note Kirk's line as he talks to Flavius in the cave and pats him on the shoulder. Attach that to Uhura's summation at the end, and you got yourself the entire story: "It's not the sun up in the sky. It's the ..."

Positives; Kirk scores with a hot blonde. Druscilla is a HOTTIE! At least she was in 1967 :-) If I were the captain of the Enterprise I think I would bend the rules a little and beam her up to the ship before breaking orbit. Heck... I'd deserve it! The production values in this episode are also top notch. Largely because we're not dealing with aliens and spaceships here, but a historical retrofit to then modern times.

Excellent social commentary on not only a personal spiritual level, but also on the imperial nature of unbridled profit.

Enjoy.

Ancient Rome with a 20th Century twist

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 22 July 2015]

Having discovered the wreckage of a star ship commanded by Capt. Merik, somebody Kirk knew in the Academy, the Enterprise heads to the planet near where it was destroyed. Here they find a society whose technology is similar to that of modern Earth but TV broadcasts suggest its social structures are almost identical to ancient Rome, complete with slaves and gladiators. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to look for survivors but are captured by a group fighting for the rights of slaves and 'The People of the Sun'. Believing that the 'First Citizen', Merikus, may be Capt Merik Kirk asks for help getting into the city to meet him. They don local clothing and head into the city with Flavius, a former gladiator, but are once again captured. Merik is indeed Merikus and he tries to force Kirk to bring his crew to the surface; when he refuses he is forced to watch as Spock and McCoy are forced to fight against gladiators.

This is an entertaining episode with plenty of good moments; most notably McCoy's struggle to survive in the gladiatorial arena. There are also some flaws that need to be overlooked; it might be possible to accept that modern society could develop like that of ancient Rome but it seems highly unlikely that it would also speak English… I don't mean characters speaking English and the viewer assuming that is because of the Universal Translator; Spock clearly states that they speak English. The revelation at the end that the 'sun' worshipped by the rebels is actually the 'son' as in 'Son of God' was also rather obvious and it was shocking that none of the landing party realised this when talking about how Sun worship was the only detail that didn't parallel early Rome! Still the story had a pace that made it fairly easy to overlook these details while watching.

Establishing the Prime Directive

[BrandtSponseller · 10/10 · 14 July 2006]

Although Star Trek's "Prime Directive" had been mentioned in episodes prior to "Bread and Circuses", that philosophical tenet of the Star Trek universe is the focus of this episode, where it is fully laid out for the first time.

Captain Kirk and crew happen upon--what else--an Earth-like planet where Spock's research shows that another Starfleet ship was supposedly destroyed. Oddly, the planet also happens to have exactly the same land to water ratio as the Earth as well as the same chemical composition of air. Before beaming down they also intercept broadcasts that show the civilization to be a close parallel to ancient Rome--particularly in terms of a proclivity towards violence, including violence as entertainment. Of course, once they beam down, Kirk, Spock and McCoy end up as captives.

Enter the prime directive. There are probably not many reading this who are not familiar with it, but in a nutshell, it's a Starfleet philosophy of non-interference. In the course of their explorations, the aim is to study other civilizations, but to not take any actions which might amount to culture shock, and even more strongly, to not take any actions which might catalyze socio-cultural development in any directions other than what they would have been without interaction with Starfleet. Of course, there are a lot of problems with this idea, and even within the Star Trek world, Starfleet members are hardly consistent in applying the principle. We can safely guess that Star Trek writers tended to not be very familiar with ideas in science and philosophy of science which posit that any outsider interaction will necessarily affect the cultures being studied in some way, and they probably weren't very familiar with either chaos theory and the butterfly effect, or even Eugene Wigner's interpretation of quantum mechanics (in which the observer and his/her consciousness plays a significant role in the events that occur). But soundness of the Prime Directive in the real world aside, we receive a lesson in what it is and what it means to the Star Trek crew in "Bread and Circuses".

To an extent, I have to wonder if the Prime Directive wasn't further developed here in the way that it was merely as a plot device. It's a way of extending the conflict. Otherwise, the tendency is to think, "Why wouldn't Scotty send down crew members to just blast the hell out of Kirk, Spock and McCoy's captors?" Although the primitive culture had guns, they are still a primitive culture.

But it doesn't really matter if the Prime Directive is just a means of extending the dilemma for 40 minutes or so. The Prime Directive is a good idea; one that we can pretend is more sound in the Star Trek universe, and one that proved to be fruitful for many future episodes in different Star Trek series.

So this episode is both important and enjoyable. We get some different locations, some interesting one-time ideas--especially the televised gladiatorial events, and I always get a kick out of the fighting episodes. Part of the original Star Trek's charm is its cheesiness, and physical combat is one of the primary sources of cheese. Also notable are the unusual references to religion--this happens a few times in the series, but nowhere more strongly than this episode. There is also a lot of exquisite bickering between Spock and McCoy here, including McCoy mocking Spock's penchant for logic by making his own Spock-like statements and Spock responding by insulting McCoy's medical ability.

Star Trek: The Original Series - Bread and Circuses

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 11 September 2016]

While "Breads and Circuses" once again has Kirk dealing with a gladiatorial situation, this time with Spock and Bones stuck in a "televised" combat against "empire Roman soldiers" while he must watch. After finding the residue of Federation ship once captained by Merik (William Smithers), Kirk, Spock, and Bones beam down to the Earth-like planet that vessel had possibly orbited. What the three encounter is a 20th Century world quite similar to Earth's own history except the slavery of Rome hadn't been vanquished, with uniformed soldiers working for a type of emperor aptly named Claudius (Logan Ramsey), rounding up "disorderlies" and televising gladiator games for big ratings as television is all the rage. Exploitation in the games comes with some benefits like medical and notoriety. At first, the landing party comes across "believers of the sun" who are against the empire and its slavery in favor of freedom and peace. The trio eventually is captured by Claudius thanks in no small part to Merik's own help! Merik was also responsible for bringing his ship's crew to the planet to be participants in the games!

The Prime Directive (Starfleet must not interfere in the growth and development of a planet, enforcing their own philosophies onto another evolving civilization) is introduced into a plot again, but Kirk has been known to operate against it at times…this episode, though, Kirk is very adamant about following it absolutely. Merik's total disregard for it (as Woodward was in "The Omega Glory") puts him opposed to Kirk and company. At the side of Claudius, Merik has abandoned his principles, with Kirk, Spock, and Bones faced with either death in the games or execution. I loved the shots at television—included is technical controllers turning dials to reflect fake audience sentiment towards the ups and downs of combat during the games—and the clever jabs at "the importance in ratings". Violence as a sport on television is never more prevalent than today, and the popularity of men brutalizing men shows up in commercials all the time for kids to see. A slant on the differences in how other similar planets to Earth go in directions opposite each other is familiar…the whole "parallel plot" could be used to reflect the what ifs of our own Earth and how similar planets went in their own developmental path, for better or worse. Spock logically viewing this planet and how it is in many ways superior to how Earth developed itself (giving examples of World Wars), getting Bones all riled up, is quite amusing. Spock and Bones with shields and daggers wanting nothing to do with the combat but having very little choice, arguing back and forth, is probably the best scene of the episode. Bones trying to thank Spock for saving his life and the cold logical response, also getting McCoy riled up, is also quite funny.

Kirk gets to make out with yet another servant girl before Claudius prepares him for his death! Claudius belittling Merik which spurns him to find his humanity, Kirk refusing to go down without a fight, a great warrior named Flavius (Rhodes Reason) tiring of being exploited and making a stand that gets him killed, and Scotty cleverly using the means to knock out momentarily the power source that televises the games which allows Kirk to get to his men are other developments that make up this rather underrated episode. The reference to the Son of God might be a bit heavy-handed for some, as Uhura debates Spock on the "followers of the sun" as not being some religious superstition.

Simply the best Star Trek parable ever

[eti55 · 10/10 · 27 February 2008]

This is one of the more violent and grim Trek stories from the original series. Whenever any story is overly unpleasant, the viewer (or reader) has to ask himself a) is the story good enough to make it worth dealing with the unpleasantness throughout and b) is the violence simply gratuitous or is it an integral part of the story? My answers are a definite yes to the first and the latter to the second.

The story begins as the Enterprise comes across wreckage from the SS Beagle, a Federation space ship which had disappeared six years earlier. Following the path of the wreckage, Kirk and company discover a planet remarkably similar to Earth, not only in atmosphere and land to water ratios, but in social evolution..well, almost. As they intercept a TV newscast, the bridge crew looks on in horror at a 20th century Rome, complete with institutionalized slavery and televised gladiator matches.

There are a number of elements to the story, some of them gut wrenching. Kirk is forced to watch as Spock and McCoy are sent to fight in the arena. Yet unlike the cowardly Captain Merik, the commander of the Beagle who sent his own men to die in the arena to save his own skin and obtain a high political position, Kirk will not hand his ship's crew over to the proconsul, Claudius Marcus, even though refusing to do so means certain death for all three of them. You see just how brave and gallant Captain Kirk really is when held up next to Merik, who for most of the episode is nothing but a pathetic craven coward. The contrast becomes quite evident to Claudius, who in one telling scene asks Merik to leave the two of them alone, stating that the thoughts of one man to another "couldn't possibly interest you."

Another element this episode explores is the spread of Christianity ("Son" worship) in Rome, which for some reason was successfully suppressed in this version of Rome until some 1600 years later than the one on earth. It hints that Christianity brought down the empire, although in truth there was much more to it (not going into an all out history lesson here)

You see the complexities of the relationship between McCoy and Spock on display as well. The two of them snipe at each other in the jail cell, yet Spock risks his neck to save McCoy's life in the arena.

One aspect I find interesting (and disturbing) is not how this 20th century Rome is differs from our modern society, but the way the two, in fact, parallel each other. Rome fell essentially because it got fat, lazy, and complacent. The socio/political philosophy of "bread and circuses" is really the same today as it was then. Keep the people fed and entertained. For example, the "modern" Rome had televised gladiator matches. We have football and boxing. Granted, people don't often get killed from these things, but the point here is the entertainment factor from seeing people beat the you-know-what out of one another. Food for thought.

There's also the issue of that pesky prime directive once again (OK, I actually defend Kirk when he's "violated" the prime directive for the simple reason that there never seemed to be a consistent set of guidelines for when it was supposed to be applied, but I digress). In this particular situation, the prime directive was in force, and Kirk wouldn't violate it even if it meant death for him and his two closest friends. (you got the idea he REALLY would have liked to though).

Part of the reason Roddenberry gave for doing Star Trek in the first place was that he wanted to talk about things that the network censors at the time wouldn't let him talk about (i.e. sex, war, politics, religion), and he saw telling these stories using "polka dotted people from a far off planet" as a way of getting past the censors. Never did he do a better job of that than in this episode. Again, Bread and Circuses (written by Roddenberry and Gene Coon) is violent (although tame by today's standards) and very grim, but it's a very intense and well crafted story with great dialogue, acting, character development, and some good action sequences thrown in.

And it makes you think.

Reality TV

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 3 May 2014]

At some point in the second season, things got a little less impressive. The guys find themselves in a culture that puts on shows for a television audience based on gladiatorial battles. The problem here is that there seems to be some stasis here, but when they find out some guy named Merik has broken the prime directive, they realize that they must put a stop to it. We know from the outset that our guys are going to end up in that arena, in front of the television cameras, replete with recorded booing and cheering. They must walk a fine line. This is yet another Starfleet citizen going bad (does anyone screen these guys?) and disrupting the order of a developing planet. It also begs the question of a parallel universe. Tired plots and tired ideas just don't make it.

One of the Best Trek Earth Parallel stories

[fabian5 · 9/10 · 17 December 2007]

'Bread and Circuses', production #43 was one of the last episodes made by Gene L. Coon himself who left the second season of Star Trek after 'A Private Little War.' (production #45.) The entire premise of this show was different from other Trek-Earth parallel stories such as 'Who Mourns for Adonis', or the subpar 'Plato's Stepchildren'. Here, captain Merik of the USS Beagle actually obeys the Federation's prime directive and avoids cross-cultural contamination with the inhabitants of planet 892-IV, a carbon copy of the ancient Romans when he orders his personnel to beam down to the planet--and essentially die. The head of the Romans, the cruel and vindictive Claudius Marcus, knows all about the Federation and its prime directive of non-interference. Bread and Circuses is an obvious what if: if the Roman Empire had survived into the 23rd century, what would life have been like today? Savage gladiatorial duels are now transmitted on live TV and dissident "sun worshippers" are shown resisting the regime. We have a classic McCoy-Spock interaction in the slave pens and the Trek trio including captain Kirk know that they all face certain death unless they violate the prime directive. Kirk--while threatened at gunpoint--still deliberately refuses to betray his own crew by ordering them to transport themselves down to the planet and instead uses the word "condition green" to Scotty to signal that his party are in trouble but the Enterprise musn't rescue them. Everyone obeys the prime directive which seemingly condemns the Trek trio to a painful death.

Roddenberry nicely lays out his conception of how slaves in our modern world would function while the Roman guards are equipped with both modern machine guns as well as ancient daggers to honour the memory of their predecessors. In the end, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are saved from death in the arena by the traitorous Merik himself who tells Scotty to home in on the communicator's general coordinates and beam the trio up. Merik is rewarded for his bravery by being stabbed to death by Marcus while Kirk, Spock and McCoy narrowly miss being machine gunned to death when Scotty beams them up in time. There are several classic lines in this show including one to the dissident gladiators and sunworshipper Flavius that if he brought down the show's ratings: "We'll do a special on you."

This episode was a tense tightly wound story by Gene L. Coon and since Coon was one of my favourite Star Trek producers, I highly recommend it. There are many great production values here.

Slavery evolving into an institution

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 22 September 2021]

Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit a planet mirroring the Roman Empire of Earth.

This is an enjoyable but unoriginal episode with some good character moments.

The plot is mostly uninspired as we see yet another Federation character breaking the Prime Directive in a similar way to 'Patterns of Force' and 'The Omega Glory'. I prefer this one to both of the above, but the source of the Roman cultural imitation is not explained, much like the situation on Omega IV. Though, I do like the themes regarding slavery and the role of the entertainment industry to help curtail civil unrest.

The character interactions are good, with the central three having some strong exchanges, particularly Spock and McCoy.

The guest characters are mostly solid, particularly Claudius and Flavius, played well by Logan Ramsey and Rhodes Reason respectively. I enjoyed the scene with Drusilla who suitably entertains Kirk, distracting him from the plight of his two friends.

Where it falls down cinematically is the gladiatorial fights. Not only are they cheaply staged, but poorly choreographed. It looks suspiciously like a one-take rush job. Aside from this the visuals are reasonably good.

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley are on good form. It's also nice to see Nichelle Nichols chipping in briefly towards the end, but as always she is underused.

They threw me a few curves...

[nosp-4 · 3/10 · 3 August 2010]

Though tempted to rate this episode with one star for reasons to be discussed, I give it three stars. I add one star because, well, it's Trek, so even bad episodes are fun and this one had some nice moments. I give it another star just because of Kirk's punchline, "They threw me a few curves...", a reference to the gift provided him by the Proconsul. That was a rare moment of "inside" humor during an otherwise self-important episode.

The concept of a parallel planet was already well worn before this episode, and if you were still watching Trek at this point, then by definition you were forgiving of the absurdity of it all. One might suspend disbelief long enough to accept a single near-Earth parallel (Miri), but by the fourth or fifth time that such a parallel is found, not only within the same galaxy, but by the same crew and captain, surely it pushes the notion fully into cheesehood. Similarly, we can suspend disbelief on the fact that the inhabitants speak perfect colloquial 1960's English, regardless of their location and period of development - it would be difficult to sustain a weekly one our drama without this concession. However, the painful exposition where the normally logical Spock makes a point of the native use of English, not once, but twice, completely breaks down the fourth wall. Further painful exposition occurs when the entire landing party recounts the points of the Prime Directive, which of course they already know. Yes, it's done to aid the viewing audience, but a better way could have been devised to give out that information. In any event, even after making a big deal about it, Kirk almost immediately violates the Prime Directive (I'm amused by reviewers who seem to claim that the opposite - that this episode grandly upholds the Prime Directive), demonstrating his communicator to the locals, and asking them if they've heard stories about men from other worlds coming from those lights in the sky. This is almost immediately after McCoy carefully explains that they are forbidden to even hint at the existence of other worlds. Then later, Kirk is squeamish about contaminating the Proconsul (catching himself from talk of beaming down), although the Proconsul has already been thoroughly contaminated by Merrick, and already knows all about Vulcans, the Federation, communicators, and phasers. Kirk even mentions to the Proconsul that he could bring down 100 men with phasers, bare moments after being shy about using the word "beam". What? How stupid can this dialog be? But all of that is forgivable because it is Trek, and Trek is good even when it's bad.

Where this episode really jumps the shark is in the obnoxious attempt to promote Christianity. It was a nice idea that the Roman empire could be brought down by a modern notion of freedom, rights, and equality. Whatever that has to do with Christianity is beyond my comprehension. Kirk says, "Wouldn't it be something to be able to watch it happen all over again?" What? The Crusades? The Inquisition? The Dark Ages? Christianity was a tool for killing, oppression of people, and suppression of ideas for centuries. The suggestion that the main concept was anti-violence is historical balderdash. It's appealing and appeasing to True Believers, sure enough, but it's an insult to the intelligence of anyone who is not so brainwashed as to have no understanding of actual historical fact.

Further, the Romans were not brought down by Christians. Long before the Roman Empire finally fell apart, Christianity had become its mandated state religion. The collapse was brought about by a combination of internal corruption, along with relentless external attack from pagan barbarian hordes.

For practical reasons, we must accept the illogic of yet another parallel development and the appearance of English in an alien world, but we should not have to accept such an egregious and unnecessary misrepresentation of cultural and religious history and the saccharin delivery of religious dogma. The fourth wall is not just breached, but blasted away by photon torpedoes. Further, such hackery was not essential to the story and actually detracted from it. One gets the feeling that the writer spent all that time hacking out a story merely to lead up to Uhura's revelation of "son vs sun", which is lazy and disappointing. It's quite obvious on repeated viewing that the dialog and even the scene imagery were carefully selected to try to set up Uhura's revelation as a surprise ending. What could have been a strong story on modern concepts of freedom and democracy battling against a modern version of the decadent and oppressive Roman Empire, instead was delivered as a ridiculous pandering to the religious bigotry of its day. Hence, the episode ends up being quite dated and silly in a modern viewing, and will age badly in decades to come.

Episode is ok, but...

[SusanJL · 6/10 · 8 July 2019]

I'm tired of the paralleling of earth societies. They've done Nazis, native Americans, Romans, gangsters, the old west (Archons), the Miri planet, etc. Writers needed better plots!!!!!!!!

Kind of interesting but also kind of heavy-handed

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 8 December 2006]

In this episode, the landing party goes in search of survivors from a crashed star ship. The planet where they landed turned out to be an odd parallel world where the Romans are alive and well and thriving in a 20th century version of their empire!! So, instead of the usual gladiator games, it's a televised event! And, in addition, the Romans have modern weapons like machine guns. Despite all this weirdness, one big question remains--what happened to this other crew?! The episode is quite daring taking on such a bizarre and hard to stomach idea of a parallel world with modern Romans and their barbaric ways. Because of this, it certainly is very entertaining but also pretty dumb. This is another great example of an episode where it's best you don't think too much--just sit back and enjoy.

Entertaining, acceptable, and imperfect

[aaustin-10 · 7/10 · 22 March 2011]

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to an unexplored planet to find out what has become of the crew of a ship that wrecked near there six years ago. They are taken hostage by the planet's leader, a despot determined to make sure the Enterprise crew never gets back home to tell anybody about the existence of this society. This society is like a cross between Ancient Rome and 20th century American in that it has televised gladiator fights, and slaves and cars existing side by side. While the despot threatens Kirk and Company's lives, there stands on the sidelines the captain of the crew they had come to find. He sides with the despot. Or does he? This is a perfectly adequate action episode that simply suffers from the sheer goofiness of its premise: the planet that just happens to have a lot of stylistic similarities to Ancient Rome.

It has a lot going for it: three very interesting guest characters: the sleazy, xenophobic despot who extols ideals of violence and domination, the cowardly ex-captain who has allowed himself to become the despot's dog, and the escaped slave-gladiator who insists he is now a peace-loving sun worshipper but is forced back into the arena. And the episode features some of the best interaction between Spock and McCoy of the whole series. And watch the scene were Kirk, Claudius, and Merrick engage in a subtle battle of wits and world views while McCoy and Spock are fighting.

But the characters, especially the slave-gladiator, do not get enough coverage to be completely meaningful, and the battle of world views between Kirk and his two foes could have been developed a little more to make a really satisfying, thought-provoking episode. And again, that whole Ancient Rome premise is just too far-fetched and distracting to be overlooked. Couldn't they have just done this episode as being about a fight-loving, TV-hooked society and cut out the Ancient Rome thing altogether? So yes, it's good. But it's imperfect.

Better than I thought

[mhubbard-54657 · 9/10 · 22 April 2017]

Here is once again, another "gladiator themed" Star Trek, yet it was much better than I anticipated. Gene Roddenberry has managed to sneak almost every possible social justice theme you can think of into this episode. Ruling class, slavery, despotism, religion, violence, even Christianity. No shortage of essay topics here.

Our trio of heroes beams down to the planet surface after finding space debris, which Captain Kirk learns to be connected to an old friend that *almost* made it through the Academy, but settled for the B team. They beam down, and discover an advanced but very brutal society, complete with television laugh tracks for their death arenas. Our space professionals encounter serious difficulty, but are eventually able to outsmart the locals. You knew that. There is quite a lot of hand to hand fighting here, ho hum. In my opinion, the best part of this episode are the interactions between McCoy and Spock. Kirk allows himself to be plied with wine and apparently gets it on with one of the ladies. I am not sure how that would work out in real life, but hey. This is Gene Roddenberry's script.

I enjoyed it. Scotty gets a good role, saving the day with his ingenuity. Overall, it is a better than average episode, despite the repeat gladiator theme.

classical

[lisafenix · 8/10 · 30 June 2006]

if this episode isn't a classic it absolutely deserves to be. it has everything classic TOS had: strong acting, strong, intricate plot, plenty of Spock/Bones banter, some earth parallel,(in this case a strong, stated one) and a twist at the end.

The character of Flavius was well played out. His POV was a over-used one in TOS but it certainly worked out here; as was that of Kirk's old classmate turned law breaker. only that is not so over-used. (I can only think of return to tomorrow on that point). By the way, even idiots can mend their mistakes, this one did just in time.

In order to fully appreciate this episode you MUST watch the last 3 minutes. it's priceless! 4 of 5 stars. and that's because of the voice-overs, which sucked yet were important to the plot. may the blessings of the SON be upon you.

One of the Best Episode of the Franchise

[brandonshw-47399 · 9/10 · 22 December 2022]

I rarely write reviews and had no intention of reviewing this, but the rating it has at present, 7.0 is absurd, so I'll say a few words. This is a clear 9 or 10. From the fight in the arena in which Spock tells his opponent, "I tell you I am well able to defeat you. I do not wish to injure you," to the most exciting beam out in the franchise, in which the Romans futilely fire a hail of machine gun fire into the landing party's fading transporter signal, this episode is moving drama from beginning to end. Did the people who rated it poorly even watch it? The episode also contains an interesting study of the prime directive. The captain and the Enterprise and infinitely stronger than the landing party's captors, but are prevented from acting by the prime directive.

20th Century Roman Empire

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 1 June 2018]

In "Bread and Circuses", the Enterprise investigates the disappearance of a ship, the USS Beagle, whose captain is an old school chum of Kirk's. They discover that the ship has crash-landed on a planet with a parallel development to Earth. It resembles 20th century Earth in many ways but has maintained a Roman-like society, complete with gladiator games, swords, and togas. The Prime Directive dictates that Star Fleet will not interfere with the development of burgeoning societies. Because of this Kirk, Spock, & Bones must head to the surface incognito in order to find their fellow Earthlings and return with them. They find that the cultural has already been contaminated by the Beagle's captain and crew who are in cahoots with the planet's government. The Enterprise's trio are thrown into the gladiator games and must figure out a way to escape back to the Enterprise without interrupting the planet's development.

Any of the parallel planet episodes have to be taken with a grain of salt. They're inherently silly and if you want to get any satisfaction out of them, you have to just buy into the premise and deal with it. That being said, this episode comes with a lot of other problems.

Instead of just embracing the fact that there maybe parallel planets out there with similar worlds, the writers try way too hard to overexplain their existence and point out the parallels: Spock's quips about how they speak English, the fact that their products all have names derived from our galaxy, their religious movement towards Christianity. All of this really bogs the episode down with expositionary dialogue.

I also think that the excuse of the Prime Directive doesn't make any sense in the context of this episode. Everything's already been spoiled by the crew of the Beagle. The government's well aware of the existence of other world's with superior technology. So Kirk's circumlocution feels unnecessary.

Now for the good: the satire of the television industry. This still feels relevant today, especially when you consider the reality TV world. The emphasis on ratings, the fake applause, it all works so succinctly. From this perspective, the episode works.

Unfortunately, this section doesn't really tie into the plot too well. A better story arc and this episode would be very good.

Merik, Ancient Romans & 20th Century Earth Era

[Rainey-Dawn · 9/10 · 12 January 2017]

Season 2, episode 25. The Enterprise is on it's routine patrol when it runs across some wreckage of the SS Beagle. The Beagle has been lost for 6 years and it's captain was R. M. Merik, a man Kirk once knew. They find no signs of humans so they guessed that the crew was able to leave the ship before it was destroyed. They follow the debris trail to an unknown planet - never charted before. They discover the planet is very much like planet Earth and even pick up radio and video signals from it. The ship's computer picks up survivors from the Beagle on the planet. Kirk, Spock & McCoy beam down to the planet's surface and are soon met with a group of men with shotguns - they are runaway slaves. Kirk, Spock and McCoy befriend the runaway slaves. It is revealed that their slavery is over a belief or dispute of gods: sun god vs other gods. Kirk is looking for Captain Merik the slaves have mentioned a man named Merikus - is it one in the same man? The planet is similar to Earth's ancient Rome but mixed with 20th century Earth and soon they find themselves in a 20th century jail cell while searching for Merik... they soon find Merik. Merik takes them to the pro-council where Merik explains what happened to him, his crew and the Beagle. Later Kirk is made to order some of his crew members down to fight in the old Roman style arena. He tells Mr. Scott code green, all is well. Scotty knows that means trouble, don't interfere but stand by. Kirk refused to bring down his men so Kirk, Spock and McCoy are taken to the arena in a real fight to the death which is broadcasted on television. The Enterprise can pick up television signals which is in their favor but must stand-by under the captain's orders - Scotty cannot send down a landing party but he can do other things from the ship.

There are some excellent moments between Spock and McCoy - and we are able to learn a bit more about Mr. Spock. Yes Spock does worry about Kirk just like the very human Dr. McCoy.

9/10

Trek guys roman all over history

[asinyne · 8/10 · 10 June 2007]

This was a pretty cool episode. It followed the tried and true formula of going back into what essentially is an exploration of earth's history. The Romans are more like Nazis but it works pretty well. I was surprised while watching this one last night that I didn't recall ever having seen it before, at least not all of it. This doesn't rate as a classic offering of the first Trek series but it was interesting and fun. The guys encounter an alien society that has patterned itself after ancient Rome, complete with televised gladiator battles to the death. Spock gets a chance to display his nifty swordsmanship while McCoy shows why hes a doctor, not a gladiator(although he does whack one dude with a mean karate chop during a jail escape). Spock has to endure a chopping lecture about being human from McCoy as well. Lots of McCoy in this one kids. Overall, this is not one of the very best episodes but still a ton of fun. Hey, you actually get to see the crew dice up some bad guys with swords at the end. This is absolutely one of the most violent Treks. By far!!!!! Also, Kirk gets to bed down with a sizzling hot slave girl due to the Romans respect for the Captain's "manliness". You go Kirk....little wonder the Captain was smiling on the bridge at the end of this one!!!! Whoa

If Rome had lasted to 1968...

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 27 April 2013]

...It would not have looked like it did in this episode.

First off, Deep Space Nine was the best of the 90's Trek Spin-offs- And the only one to do The Original Series homage with the great "Trials and Tribbleations" episode from Season 5. Another thing I have to refute right away is the concept that science and religion are somehow at odds and that a civilization with Spaceflight would discard Faith: Not Religion per say, but Faith. If I do not have any problems in my mind with my own Faith in regards to theories like Evolution and The Big Bang which I also believe in as much as I believe in God or Jesus, then there will be more people like me who will start agreeing that if God exists, He does not break His own laws of Physics and He does not Snap His fingers or Play with Dice when He creates something, instead He would plan it out scientifically and He would follow the Laws of the Universe He had laid out. It is a new Mindset that has to be reached by both people who are religious, and scientists as well- There has to be an eventual meeting of the two or else there will never really be any huge breakthroughs, especially in a possible future that is anything like Gene Roddenberry's vision of The Federation.

The problem with stories like this and not just this story, but the idea that Rome was somehow "Evil" and Barbaric, is due to mostly Catholic Teaching, the same Catholic Teaching I was raised into. But this teaching it is false as I will explain here.

Think about it - What happened when the Goths - Not the same Goths that hang out in Nightclubs and listen to the bands "Bauhaus" and "Specimen," but real Barbarians who were great at fighting but terrible with Administration- Knocked down Rome and tried to Administrate it? What actually did happen was that they failed and they themselves entered Oblivion, and we ended up with several centuries of The Dark Ages which was the result of Religion but no Science. The same could happen if there were an era of Science but no Faith.

And so this Trek episode shows a Parallel Earth which had developed along the lines of our earth, but that Rome had not been knocked down. What was not considered in this story is that if Rome had continued in the direction it was going, it would have become a Catholic State, rather than a Pagan state, because it's final leaders were religious.

But let's say that Jesus came even to That earth, which He must have done there, as well as here, and at the same time He appeared Here. He never called for any bloody revolutions, His aim was Peace. He never backed up anybody who was fighting the government of that time, which was Rome, and he actually had harsher words for Hypocritical Priests of His own religion than He had for the Governors of Jerusalem or other Romans.

The Roman State from this episode, does not take into account that even The United States was just as barbaric, but social developments would have happened there as well, a state like Rome would have eventually developed socially to be more like the United States, and slavery and Gladiators would have been abolished.

So, this episode has many flaws, mostly due to the thinking of the time and also what was allowed on Television in 1967 and 1968. Despite that, I hold this episode as special to myself, because of my own personal Faith, and this was the only time in The Original Series where my Faith was saluted. In the 60's, you could not use blatant references to religion like you can with modern television, and possibly the word "Jesus" was a network taboo. So Gene Roddenberry went behind the backs of all of those taboos and brought us this episode, it really is one of the best of Season 2, and mostly it is less about Faith than about breaking The Prime Directive for any reason. And so I blame "The Fall of The Roman Empire" in this episode on Captain Merrick (William Smithers) and his blatant defiling of The Prime Directive - Not on Slaves staging a religious revolt. This episode shows the ultimate tragedy of not adhering to Starfleet's number one rule - a Whole world government was taken down and a bloody revolution was begun resulting in a possible Dark Ages for that planet.

But there was one shining moment in this episode and that was when "Mericus" finally came to his senses: he knew what would happen and he did it anyway, which showed a level of bravery.

This episode got away with social commentary because they didn't blatantly name religious figures or religions. "Son" worshipers, and we assumed "Sun", how wrong were we?

I originally saw this on the date that it was first broadcast, and being raised in a Catholic family it definitely caused a reaction around the TV set that night.

Roman Empire Ratmaze

[profh-1 · 5/10 · 18 January 2010]

This has been one of my LEAST-favorite ST episodes since I saw it first-run. There's a number of reasons for it, but the main one is probably that it's what I like to describe as a "rat-maze" episode. That is, from the beginning, the main characters find themselves trapped, they're stymied at every turn, nothing they do can get them out of it, and they just--BARELY--escape with their lives at the very end, and in this case, not even thru their own efforts. Even without the arrogance of the Procounsel, the violence and the constant threat of death, that would have already made this one of the most unpleasant episodes in ST history.

For a real sense of history regarding the series' development, one should watch B&C in production order. It was actually made before the other "parallel Earth" stories (A PIECE OF THE ACTION, PATTERNS OF FORCE, THE OMEGA GLORY), the other "gladiator" story (THE GAMESTERS OF TRISKELLION) and the one where McCoy & Spock really get "personal" (THE IMMUNITY SYNDROME). As it happens, the 1st "parallel Earth" story written was THE OMEGA GLORY (one of the 3 scripts offered as the 2nd pilot), while MIRI was the first made (and if you note the similarities between them, it suggests OMEGA was drastically re-written to become MIRI... but then, sadly, filmed later anyway in its original form). The next "parallel Earth" story, RETURN OF THE ARCHONS, only fits that category for its clothing & architecture, but it was the 1st to really make a big deal of "The Prime Directive".

So Gene Roddenberry repeats himself with another "parallel Earth" here, this time noting the continents are different, but making too big a deal about the natives speaking English (when we've already seen countless other aliens speaking English!!!).

I'd forgotten Ian Wolfe was in this one as the aged leader of the runaways slaves. He'd return in a more annoying fashion as "Mr. Atoz" in ALL OUR YESTERDAYS.

Rhodes Reason (brother of lookalike Rex) made an imposing figure as the gladiator-turned-pacifist, forced to fight new friends. His next project after this was as UN submarine Commander Nelson in KING KONG ESCAPES!

Logan Ramsey will forever stick in my memory as Claudius, the ruler of this sick, depraved world. He's the other reason I genuinely HATE this story. For all the emphasis on the Prime Directive and "non-interference" in a world's development, and his twisting it to his own ends, claiming he wants to avoid "contamination" by "new ideas", his actions in this story make NO SENSE at all. He's clearly lying thru his teeth. Why? Simple. He wants to force Kirk to beam down all 450 crewmen, to either be assimilated-- or die. 450 of Starfleet's BEST would not simply die easily. If anything, they'd assimilate into the culture... and within a generation, hopelessly CONTAMINATE it with their "new ideas". If Claudius REALLY wanted to protect the status quo, he's simply get Kirk, Spock & McCoy to beam back to their ship and get the HELL out of there. After all, aren't they sworn NOT to interfere with his planet?? If you ask me, Claudius was just running out of victims for his gladiator combat TV show. If ever an "alien" citizen DESERVED to be vaporized in a phaser blast, I'd say he's it. B******!

As for the reference to Christianity, I suspect that may be why B&C was "held back" by the network and run next-to-next-to-last. (The listings here and elsewhere tend to be incorrect; FRIDAY'S CHILD, scheduled for December, was the victim of a last-minute pre-emption, and not run until March 22, 1968, a week after B&C!) The same thing happened when WKRP did an episode involving religion; CBS held it back until the end of the summer reruns!