History Of Theatre- 2022

THEA 113
Roman research paper on ONE (1) Roman playwright, amphitheatre and costume
2nd November 2022
Nancii Yearwood
0161104
In partial completion of the Associate Degree in Theatre Arts
The famous Roman comic playwright Publius Terrence Afer more commonly known by his
English name Terrence, was believed to be the first black playwright. Terrence was
estimated to be born around 159 BC and it is unclear when he died, some sources believed
he died in his early twenties or mid-thirties though the most common sources conclude him
to have been thirty- five to thirty –six years of age at the time of his death. Terrence was
either a Carthage boy brought from Italy or his mother was a Cathage slave who was
brought to Italy and Terrence was Italian, most biographies of him written over time call him
a Cathage or African man. Terrence was bought by a roman senator named Terentius
Lucanus who was impressed by Terrence’s talent for writing and was said to be encouraged
by his good looks so he gave him his name ‘Terrence’. educated him and set him free,
paving the way for Terrence's rise to fame. There appears to be little to no record on
Terrence’s love life and its unconfirmed if he had a wife or lovers, speculation says he had a
wife but there is no evidence to back this claim, he did however have a daughter. Terrence
was described to be ‘colore fusco’, dark in colour/ complexion, slender, graceful and of
average height, in his portraits and illustrations Terrence is portrayed to be a man in his late
twenties, with dark brown hair, big, soft and round eyes, a moustache and a beard.
Terrance wrote six plays in his lifetime, Adelphoe (The Brothers) written in (160 BC). The
theme of this play is how to raise a son, the play follows two brothers, Demea and Micio,
and their disputes and different beliefs on how a son should be raised. Demea the pater
durus (the more strict and harsher father) the play’s hero and his brother Micio the pater
lenis ( the kinder and more lenient father), come to the understanding that the other
brother has traits in their parenting style that can be adapted into their own, for the better
and right raising of a son. The two brothers find a balance of strict and lenient parenting, the
parenting Terrence recommends to his audience, the play’s hero grows and develops as a
character by the end of the play and is said to be the only Terrention character to truly do
so. His second play was Phormio written in (161 BC). This play is about two cousins Phaedria
and Antipho and their friend Phormio their matchmaker, Phormio is clever and with his help
the two cousins outwit their father and marry the women they desire to the anger and
shame to their father, unbeknownst to Antipho his wife is actually his uncle’s daughter, the
result of an affair, which the uncle is forced to admit it at the end of the play. Terrences’s
third play Eunuchus written in (161 BC) this play is a plot of fraud, impersonation, assault,
romance, trickery and taboo, the young hero of the story Charea falls in love with a slave
girl, who isn’t named dispute the transgressions that fall apon her throughout the play, who
is later revealed to actually be a free citizen. Charea devises a plot to impersonate a eunuch
so he can see her, despite the fact he claims to love her, he rapes her and ashamed runs
away. The play is resolved with Charea admitting and taking responsibility for his crimes and
he marries the girl he both offended and claimed to love. Heauton, Timorumenos (The Self-
Tormentor) written in (163 BC), Hecyra (The Mother-in-Law) (165 BC) and Andria (The Girl
from Andros) (166 BC)
Terrance incorporated several themes in his plays such as, conflict with oneself, familial
conflict, conflict of the heart, youthful love and redemption, he was also praised for his
skillful use of Latin,for incorporating details and his original material into the plays he
referenced and drew inspiration from to create his own work and his attention to detail in
his plays , seen in Hecyra and Phormio, his ability to entertain the audience with his
captivating stories and his ability to hold the attention of the audience by evoking their
emotions and with his plot devises, contrast of characters, suspense, shock, surprise,
trickery, impersonation and recognition. He had a sensitive approach to the relationships,
personal problems and external conflicts his characters were going through, there is always
a lesson to be learnt by the audiences viewing the play, a message he intends to convey.
Alao noticed in his work is the way he uses the names of his characters to allude to their
roles in the play. His writing style was described as elegant, clear, expressive and fluent, it
was clear in his writing his sophisticated education and language, Gaius Julius Caesar who
was a Roman general and statesman admired the purity of his writing and Marcus Tullius
Cicero who was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar and academic skeptic praised Terrence
for his polished and refined style of writing. Terrence was inspired by Greek playwright
Menander, and references of his own work is seen in several of his.
Terrence’s career was successful he read his play, the Andria to the experienced poet and
comic Caecilius who went on to declare it to be a success and encouraged Terrence to
create more of his works. His play the Eunuchus was a great success and earned him a lot of
money. Terrence used popular and experience actors to properly portray his vision such as
Lucius Ambivius Turpio was popular for his skill and charm and was known for his promotion
of popular playwright Caecilius’s career. Terrence also joined the Scipionic Circle, a group of
young noble and aristocrats who studied Greek culture and literature. Unfortunately, he
was not successful throughout his entire career, he faced suspicion and critique when
playwright Luscius Lanuvinus accused him of plagiarising the work of Greek playwrights,
even though it was the custom of the time to do so. Lucius called Terence's work unoriginal,
complete copies of Greek scriptures and accused him of haven used the work written by his
noble friends instead of creating his own.
Not much is known about his death but it is speculated that on his way to Greece in effort to
retrieve more scripture for his future plays, he either died at sea or caught a dieceses in
Greece and died there. He was a truly talented playwright and his works are used
throughout history to teach Latin and to entertain. As the first Black playwright he is an
inspiration for all black writers and his works live on in the plays learned about today.