Beyond Bread and Circuses focuses on large-scale public entertainment, like gladiatorial games and theatrical performances, in the Roman colonies and municipalities of the western Mediterranean from the late Republic to the third century CE. These lavish spectacles provided local notables in smaller communities outside of the imperial capital with a powerful tool to establish a political consensus among fellow citizens. While these spectacles were costly to produce, local notables were the ones who stood to profit materially and politically from organizing these events. This system drove competition between neighboring communities and regional rivalries included tangible economic stakes, which may explain why historical sources often describe these spectacles as venues for explosive sectarian conflicts.