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Drama in Rome 

By the middle of the first century BC, when Pompey built his theatre, the composition for performance of new works of both comedy and tragedy had all but ceased. These genres, which had appeared in Rome by the middle of the third century, had evidently lost their appeal to playwrights. At Rome, both comedy (fabulae palliatae, or plays in Greek dress) and tragedy (fabulae crepidatae, buskin-plays) had been based on Greek models. There also existed a domestic variety of 'situation comedy' with Italian subject matter: the fabulae togatae (plays in Roman dress). Because we know little of these except a few titles and the names of several playwrights, it is difficult to asses either the nature of the genre or the extent to which is was still viable in the late Republican theatre.

Although the composition of tragedy and comedy evidently had lost their earlier vitality, it is hardly surprising that in a time of cultural and political upheaval, which characterised the history of the late Republic, the restaging of time-tested works of drama still had popular appeal. These probably included plays by such Latin authors as Accius, Naevius, Plautus, Terence, Ennius, and Pacuvius. At the inauguration of Pompey’s theatre, it is known that two such works were staged; the Clytaemnestra by the Roman playwright Accius, and the Trojan Horse, probably by Naevius. In addition, native Italian farces fabulae Atellanae (performed in the Oscan language), were presented.

By the mid first century BC, traditional drama was increasingly displaced by the mime. Both Latin and tragedy and comedy at Rome, although long established, were essentially foreign imports whose subject matter, settings, and dress were Greek. But the mime was probably an indigenous form of theatrical entertainment, although it is not easy for modern scholars either to define or confine it to a particular genre. It apparently was unscripted and virtually plotless and, unlike literary drama, was presented without masks and included female performers (the first in antiquity!) in what were evidently uninhibited, versatile, and exuberant celebrations of fun and frailty. From the first it was noted for its obscenity and license. Its presenters seem to have focussed on dramatic caricature, sensationalised enactments from everyday life (the bawdier the better), as well as such exotic subjects like kidnappings, shipwrecks, and occasionally, plots drawn from mythology. But the mime could also include every form of entertainment with acrobatics, song, dance, jokes, and conjuring grafted onto the flimsiest of impromptu scenarios to create a variety show.

text Roman theatre in the Early Republican period

text Roman theatre in the Early Imperial period

text Roman theatre in the Late Imperial period


Types of Roman performance

The Fabula
The ancient Roman term for a play. The genres of Roman drama were named and classified according to their subject matter. A fabula palliata was a play composed in Latin, but based upon Greek models and subject matter, and notionally set in Greece. The actors wore costumes similar to those worn by Greeks, including the himation, which in Latin was called a pallium. The works of Plautus and Terence were of this type. A fabula praetextata was a play using subject matter drawn from Roman legend and history, and took its name from the coloured stripe adorning the togas of Roman magistrates. Fabula togata referred to a fictional play that used Roman subject matter and settings; the name was derived from the Roman garment called the toga. Atellan farces (rustic unscripted plays taking their name from the South Italian town of Atella) were termed fabulae atellanae.

The Atellan Farce
Ancient Italian improvised comic drama. These rustic farces, named after the Oscan town of Atella, were later performed in Rome in Latin. They featured masked traditional stock characters, motivated by some basic appetite (gluttony, lust) or dominant quality (stupidity, anger). These stereotypes were probably used later in Roman literary comedies, including those of Plautus and, controversially, may possibly have influenced Italian commedia dell’arte. The farces were lively and crude, with an emphasis on slapstick and ribald jests. Both their dramatic form and the simple stages on which they were performed, are likely to have contributed to the development of theatrical art at Rome.

Pantomime
Ancient Roman masked entertainment. There were two types, comic and tragic, both of which first appeared at Rome in the late 1st century BC, but remained hugely popular throughout the Empire for centuries. The solo, silent performer, accompanied by an orchestra and chorus, presented all of the characters of the drama using different masks and costumes. The immense skill required for such meticulous performances, as well as the physical beauty of the performers, brought great renown to certain 'stars', some of whom enjoyed the favour of emperors (and their wives), as well as popular adulation that frequently led to riots.

The Roman playwrights

text Who was Andronicus?

text Who was Ennius?

text Who was Naevius?

text Who was Pacuvius?

text Who was Seneca?

text Who was Terence?

text Who was Plautus?


The Roman actors

Aesopus, Clodius
(fl. mid 1st century BC) Roman actor. Aesopus was the most highly regarded of all Rome’s tragic actors, although he also acted in comedy. He was renowned for the gravity and strength of his characterisations, and his powerful voice. He was a close friend of Cicero, to whom he gave lessons in elocution.

Roscius Gallus, Quintus
(c.120-62 BC) Roman comic actor. Roscius was born a slave.  His success caused him to be freed by Sulla, who in 82 BC admitted him to the equestrian order; an unprecedented honour for an actor in Rome. He subsequently acquired great wealth and prestige and his name became proverbial for excellence and popularity. He instructed his close friend Cicero in elocution, and was defended by him in a lawsuit. The oration defending him survives. Roscius was admired for his grace and style. He was meticulous in the perfection of his roles, noted for his observation and careful rehearsal of gestures and vocal delivery, as well as his skill at improvisation. Although he occasionally played tragic roles, he excelled in comic parts and was particularly noted for his impersonation of parasites, and famous for the perfection of his realization of Ballio, the maniacal pimp in Plautus’ Pseudolus.