Plautus
Plautus
249 av. J.-C. — 183 av. J.-C.
Rome antique
A Latin comic playwright of the 3rd–2nd century BC, Plautus is the leading figure of Roman comedy. He adapted Greek New Comedy for Roman audiences, creating characters that became archetypes: the cunning slave, the miser, the braggart soldier.
Famous Quotes
« Lupus est homo homini, non homo. (A man is a wolf to another man, not a man.) — Asinaria, II, 4 »
Key Facts
- Born around 254 BC in Sarsina, Umbria
- Died around 184 BC in Rome
- He is said to have written around 130 comedies, of which 21 have survived in full
- His major works include Amphitryon, Aulularia, Miles Gloriosus, and Menaechmi
- His comedies inspired Molière (The Miser, Amphitryon) and Shakespeare (The Comedy of Errors)
Works & Achievements
A comedy featuring Pyrgopolinices, a vain and dim-witted soldier convinced of his own irresistible charm. This play created the universal archetype of the 'miles gloriosus', later echoed by Shakespeare (Falstaff), Molière, and modern comedies alike.
A comedy centered on Euclio, a miserly old man obsessed with a pot of gold inherited from his ancestors. A direct inspiration for Molière's 'The Miser', it remains one of the most widely studied plays in secondary education.
A comedy of errors built on the confusion between twin brothers separated at birth. This play was the primary source for Shakespeare's 'The Comedy of Errors' and showcases Plautus's genius for absurd, farcical situations.
A masterpiece by Plautus featuring the slave Pseudolus, a true genius of trickery who outwits every obstacle to help his young master. The play was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1962 under the title 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.
A mythological comedy blending gods and mortals in which Jupiter disguises himself as Amphitryon to seduce Alcmena. Plautus's only comedy on a mythological subject, it was later adapted by Molière, Dryden, Kleist, and many others.
A more serious comedy than most, praised by the ancients for its moral worth, depicting a slave's unwavering loyalty to his master held captive in war. Cicero considered it one of the finest plays in the Latin repertoire.
Anecdotes
According to Aulus Gellius, Plautus squandered the money he had earned as an actor in a series of disastrous business ventures. Ruined, he found himself working in a mill to survive, and it was there that he allegedly wrote his first plays, selling them to theater managers for a few sesterces.
Plautus came from humble origins, probably born in Sarsina in Umbria, and his nickname 'Plautus' meant 'flat-footed' in Latin — a rather unflattering reference to his appearance. Despite these modest beginnings, he became the most popular playwright in Rome, with his plays still being performed decades after his death.
Cicero reports that Plautus was so popular that several apocryphal works were attributed to him after his death. Grammarians such as Varro had to conduct a thorough investigation to distinguish the twenty-one authentic plays from the many imitations circulating under his name.
In his play 'Asinaria' (The Comedy of Asses), Plautus depicts a father competing with his own son for the affections of a courtesan — a bold comic device that showcases his freedom of tone. This kind of bawdy, satirical humor was especially popular during the religious festivals at which his comedies were performed.
Plautus drew inspiration from the Greek comedies of Menander, Diphilus, and Philemon, but he did not simply translate them — he freely adapted them, adding Latin wordplay, references to Roman daily life, and the musical rhythm distinctive to Roman theater known as 'fabula palliata'. Shakespeare himself drew on Plautus's 'Menaechmi' when writing 'The Comedy of Errors'.
Primary Sources
«Nunc ego sum miser: quia hic compressit filiam meam vi in tenebris — id dolet. Nam istuc honeste non potest fieri nisi aut nox aut vinum aut adulescentia in culpa est.»
«Pyrgopolynices: How many men did you kill today? — Artotrogus: Seven thousand two hundred in Cilicia, a hundred in Cryphio, thirty Sardinians, sixty Macedonians.»
«This is the best birthday I've ever had — I'm making the most of it with good food and fine plans. I'm laying on a feast here at my mistress's place, the one my master is mad about.»
«It is said that Plautus wrote the Saturio, the Addictus, and a third unnamed play while working in a mill, having lost his fortune and hired himself out as a manual laborer.»
«Our Plautus is so praised by scholars that his works are held to contain much that is witty and well suited to human life.»
Key Places
The presumed birthplace of Plautus, a small Umbrian town in the Apennines that was absorbed into the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. A modern statue there commemorates the playwright, and the town still hosts an ancient theater festival in his honor.
The earliest theatrical performances in Rome took place in the Forum, in front of temporary wooden stands. Plautus made his debut in this popular setting, amid merchants and citizens who gathered to celebrate religious festivals.
A versatile entertainment venue that also hosted theatrical performances during the Ludi Romani. Plautus is said to have presented several of his plays here before audiences of thousands, drawn from all walks of life.
Rome's main seaport, Ostia was the arrival point for the merchants, slaves, and Greek travelers who populate Plautus's comedies. The cosmopolitan atmosphere of this harbor fueled his imagination for the adventurers and traders who fill his plays.