• Titus Maccius Plautus Plays

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BC), commonly known as 'Plautus', was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus’ plays are without exception New Comedy palliatae, i.e. Comedies with Greek characters and in Greek dress. As per comedic conventions, the characters are typical stock characters, and the jokes are derived by a combination of verbal wit and comedic situations.

Titus Maccius Plautus Plays

Titus Maccius Plautus Sometime around 254 B.C., in the tiny mountain village of Sarsina high in the Apennines of Umbria, ancient Rome's best-known playwright was born--Titus Maccius Plautus. Born 'Plautus' or 'splay-foot', he apparently managed to escape his backwoods village at a young age--perhaps by joining one of the itinerant theatrical troupes which commonly traveled from village to village performing short boisterous farces. We know, however, that at some point the young Plautus gave up his acting career to become a Roman soldier, and this is probably when he was exposed to the delights of the Greek stage, specifically Greek New Comedy and the plays of. Sometime later, he tried his hand as a merchant, but rashly trusted his wares to the sea and at the age of 45, he found himself penniless and reduced to a wandering miller, trudging through the streets with a hand-mill, grinding corn for householders. Meanwhile, translations of Greek New Comedy had come into vogue and Plautus--who remembered the comedies of Menander from his days as a soldier in Southern Italy--decided to try his hand at writing for the stage. His earliest plays, Addictus and Saturio, were written while he still made a living with his hand-mill. Soon, however, his comedies began to suit the public taste and Plautus was able to retire his hand-mill and devote himself to writing full-time.