Who Was Terence?:
Terence was a North African who came to Rome where he wrote influential comedies in the Fabula Palliata form.
Birth and Death of Terence:
Terence, who died either at sea or in Greece in about 159 B.C., was probably born about 195 B.C. in Carthage (Northern Africa), probably.
Terence in Rome:
He was brought from northern Africa to Rome as a slave, by Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator. He was then freed, and named ‘Terence’ after his patron, and ‘Afer’ after his presumed place of birth. Terence, who was a member of the Scipionic circle (the literary group that formed around Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus), became a Roman playwright basing his comedy on the Greek New Comedy of Menander.
Influence of Terence:
New comedy was the forerunner of the "modern" European comedy of manners (written by Molière, Congreve, Sheridan, Goldsmith, and Wilde). Earlier English writers, including Shakespeare and Chaucer, also show the influence of Terence.
The Comedies of Terence:
Production notices for Terence's plays provide us with approximate dates for when Terence wrote his comedies:
* Andria - 166 B.C.
* Hecyra (The Mother-in-Law) - 165 B.C.
* Heauton timoroumenos (The Self-Tormentor) - 163 B.C.
* Eunuchus (The Eunuch) - 161 B.C.
* Phormio - 161 B.C
* Adelphi (The Brothers) - 160 B.C.
Sources on Terence:
Our main sources for information on Terence are the prologues to his plays, the production notices, biographical material written centuries later by Suetonius, and commentary written by Aelius Donatus, a 4th century grammarian.
A Terence Quote:
"As the saying is, I have got a wolf by the ears." Phormio. Act iii. Sc. 2, 21. (506.)
Evaluation of Terence During His Time:
The plays of Terence were more refined and less farcical than those of Plautus, for which reason Terence was less popular. There was also controversy about the techniques of Terence during his lifetime. He was accused of contaminating the (borrowed, Greek) material and of having had assistance in the creation of his plays. [See www.wayneturney.20m.com/terence.htm "Terence" for specific information on "contaminatio".]
