Roman Theatre
of Classical antiquity

• Ancient Roman theatre was
heavily influenced by the Greek
tradition, and as with many
other literary genres Roman
dramatists tended to adapt and
translate from Greek drama.

Greek vs. Roman
• In comparing and contrasting ancient
Roman and ancient Greek theatre, it
can easily be said that Roman theatre
was less influenced by religion.
• Roman theatre more frequently
featured war as a theme, subject and/
or action on stage.
• Also, Roman theatre was more
focused on aesthetic appeal.

Theatre Space
• The Romans
further developed
the Greek
amphitheatre.
• The “orchestra”
became a semi-
circle.
• The “skene”
became more
elaborate.

Other Roman entertainments occurred in stadiums.

Costumes
• Roman costumes mirrored
traditional Greek garments.
• Actors commonly wore a long
white robe, called a Chiton.
• Mantels were wrapped around
the Chitons.
• The color of the mantel
denoted character and rank.
– Purple robe: young man
– Yellow robe: woman
– Yellow tassel: a god

• Roman actors also wore masks. These
masks were more grotesque and exaggerated
than their Greek predecessors.
• Initially all performers were male, but soon
women were welcomed onto the stage as well.

Plautus (c. 254 - c. 184 BC)
• came from Umbria to Rome to find work
as a comic actor
• wrote over 130 plays (20 survive today)
• plays were based on Greek works
• wrote New Comedy, a comedy of manners
depicting and satirizing the lives of the
leisure class, using bold stock characters,
complex plots, and much debauchery.

20th-Century Plautus
• The successful
Broadway musical
A Funny Thing
Happened On The
Way To The Forum
(1962) was based,
in part, on material
from several plays
by Plautus.

Stock Characters in Roman
Comedy
• Stock characters were very important in
Roman comedy.
• Stock characters are immediately
recognizable archetypical characters that
appear in many plays.
• Actors helped to establish these stock
characters through their use of speech,
movement costume, and mask. Thus,
audiences grew to instantly recognize
stock characters before the action of the
play even kicked in.

The Stock Characters
• adulescens: the young, rich, love-struck
and none too brave hero; he tends to
bemoan his fate and requires backup.
– [dark wig, crimson clothes]
• senex: the old man. He has several
incarnations: a father, a miser, too strict,
too soft, foolishly in love with a younger
woman, etc. He usually comes up short in
the end.
– [white garment, carries a staff]

The Stock Characters, Cont’d
• leno: the unabashedly amoral, money-
hungry proprietor of the brothel.
– [a tunic & mantel, often bald, moneybag]
• miles gloriosus: a braggart, self-absorbed
soldier; considers himself handsome &
brave; in reality he is stupid, cowardly, &
gullible.
– [a tunic, long sleeves, curly hair]
• parasitus: a greedy beggar
– [long, black or gray garment]

The Stock Characters, Cont’d
• servi: the clever servant/slave; talkative;
loyal; engages in tricks and comedy; usually
the largest part in the play; drives the plot;
often the one who finds the truth out at the
end of the play; tendency to use alliteration
& rhythmic speech
– [tunics, scarves]
• ancilla: a maid or nurse of no particular
age; usually a minor character used to move
the plot by presenting information or
helping to develop another character;
sometimes a messenger.

The Stock Characters, Cont’d
• matrona: the mother; loves her children,
but is shrewd & temperamental towards
her husband.
– [long garment with flowing sleeves, a mantel]
• meretrix: (prostitute): either a
mercenary or devoted. The first type is
older or more experienced and has seen a
lot. The second type is truly in love with the
adulescens.
– [very attractive, complex hairdo, yellow outfit]
• virgo: the young maiden; beautiful and
virtuous with little personality; treated as a
prize.

Terence
(c. 190 - c. 159 BC)
• a freed slave of African origin
• one of Ancient Rome’s most highly regarded
playwrights
• his plays were largely re-workings of Greek
comedies.
• style: light and witty.
• his work satirizes the life of his fellow citizens.
• his farce is less broad than that of Plautus,
and he generally employs less singing and
dancing.

Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD)
• son of rhetorician, also named Seneca
• referred to as “Seneca the Younger”
• tutored young Nero, who later became
emperor
• a respected statesman and philosopher,
as well as dramatist
• wrote tragedies based on Greek works
• falsely accused of trying to assassinate
Nero; sentenced to imperial “suicide”

Nero
• The Emperor Nero loved
the theatre and would
often take a solo part—
thinly masked. He
played such roles as
Hercules, Oedipus and
Orestes. In 66 AD, he
undertook a tour of
Greek theatres,
returning to Rome with
1,808 triumphal crowns!

FIN