Who Was Plautus?:
Plautus was one of the two major writers of Roman comedy. Some of the plots of his plays can be recognized in the comedies of Shakespeare. He usually wrote about young men sowing their oats. The movie and play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is based on Plautus.
Plautus was one of the two major writers of Roman comedy. Some of the plots of his plays can be recognized in the comedies of Shakespeare. He usually wrote about young men sowing their oats. The movie and play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is based on Plautus.
Plautus - Dates:
Titus Maccius Plautus was born c. 254 B.C. in Umbria (northern Italy, to the east of Etruria [see map sections Gd-e]) and died in 184.
Titus Maccius Plautus was born c. 254 B.C. in Umbria (northern Italy, to the east of Etruria [see map sections Gd-e]) and died in 184.
Plautus - Career:
Plautus may have joined a traveling acting group that performed farces. After leaving Umbria, he became a Roman soldier. While stationed in southern Italy [see map of Southern Italy] he was exposed to the Greek New Comedy and the plays of Menander. When his business plans failed, Plautus tried writing comedies and made a success of it by using puns and slapstick gags to make plays entertaining enough to compete with the games for audience attention.
Plautus may have joined a traveling acting group that performed farces. After leaving Umbria, he became a Roman soldier. While stationed in southern Italy [see map of Southern Italy] he was exposed to the Greek New Comedy and the plays of Menander. When his business plans failed, Plautus tried writing comedies and made a success of it by using puns and slapstick gags to make plays entertaining enough to compete with the games for audience attention.
Plautus - Name:
Plautus probably eventually obtained Roman citizenship and was then entitled to three names: Titus Maccius Plautus. Plautus probably refers to his flatfeet and Maccius to his comedic nature.
Plautus probably eventually obtained Roman citizenship and was then entitled to three names: Titus Maccius Plautus. Plautus probably refers to his flatfeet and Maccius to his comedic nature.
Plautus - Legacy:
In his comedies, Shakespeare drew heavily from Plautus. The popular modern stage and screen comedy A Funny Thing Happened is also based on Plautus.
In his comedies, Shakespeare drew heavily from Plautus. The popular modern stage and screen comedy A Funny Thing Happened is also based on Plautus.
Plautus - Place in Roman Damatic History:
In 240 B.C. Livius Andronicus adapted a Greek comedy and tragedy for performance on a Roman stage. This was the beginning of Roman drama. It was only 40 years later that Plautus' "Stichus" was performed.
Timeline of the Golden Age of Roman Drama
In 240 B.C. Livius Andronicus adapted a Greek comedy and tragedy for performance on a Roman stage. This was the beginning of Roman drama. It was only 40 years later that Plautus' "Stichus" was performed.
Timeline of the Golden Age of Roman Drama
Plautus - Reputation:
Plautus was probably the greatest Roman comic playwright, but among the Romans, the reputation of Plautus varied. The court of Augustus looked down on Plautus' comedy, but Cicero, Aulus Gellius, Varro, and Quintilian thought otherwise. See Reputation of Plautus.
Plautus was probably the greatest Roman comic playwright, but among the Romans, the reputation of Plautus varied. The court of Augustus looked down on Plautus' comedy, but Cicero, Aulus Gellius, Varro, and Quintilian thought otherwise. See Reputation of Plautus.
Plautus - The Comedies:
Plautus was reputed to have written 130 pieces (based on Greek New Comedy), of which 21 survive, including
Plautus was reputed to have written 130 pieces (based on Greek New Comedy), of which 21 survive, including
- The Menaechmi
- The Asses
- The Merchant
- The Swaggering Soldier
- Stichus
- The Pot of Gold
- Curculio
- Epidicus
- The Captives
- The Rope
- Trinummus
- Mostelleria
- Pseudolus
- The Two Bacchides
- Amphitryo
- Casina
- The Persian
- Truculentus
Read a public domain English translation of Captiva and Mostellaria and in English and Latin of Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, and Captivi.
