R O M A N

T H E A T R E
THE ROMAN THEATRE
The theatre of ancient Rome referred to a period of
time in which theatrical practice and performance
took place in Rome. The tradition has been linked
back even further to the 4th century BC, following
the state’s transition from monarchy to republic
Theatre during this era is generally separated into
genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented
by a particular style of architecture and stage play,
and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of
entertainment and control.
ROMAN THEATER STRUCTRURE

The large and steeply raked structure could seat about 6,000 people: built into the
hillside, it was oriented north to keep the sun off the spectators.

It was divided into three horizontal sections (diazomata). Side entrances (paradoi)
existed at ground level, one leading to the orchestra and the other to the stage.
Rooms behind these entrances now house the Jordan Museum of Popular Tradition
on the one side, and the Jordan Folklore Museum on the other side.

The highest section of seats in a theatre, known in British English as "the gods",
even though far from the stage, offer here excellent sightlines, while the actors can
be clearly heard, owing to the steepness of the cavea.
WRITERS OF ROMAN
1. Livius Andronicus
2. Gnaeus Naevius
3. Plautus
4. Terence
Livius Andronicus
Lucius Livius Andronicus was a greco Roman
dramatist and epic poet of the old Latin period during
the Roman Republic. He began as an educator in the
service of a noble family, producing Latin translation
of Greek work, inluding Homer’s Odyssey.

Work of Livius Andronicus:

Odyssia
This work is a translation into the old Latin Saturnian meter of parts of Homer’s Odyssey
and represents the first example of epic in Latin. We are not sure of its exact Latin title
(see Introduction to Livius Andronicus: Works). Our ancient sources refer variously to
Odyssia, Odyssea, and Odissia. Gellius twice gives the title in Greek (F 1, 12). Festus (F
24, 25, 32) uses the title Odyssia vetus to distinguish Livius’ work in Saturnians from a
later translation of parts of the Odyssey into hexameters (see Pseudo-Andronicus, Odyssia
and Introduction to Livius Andronicus: Works).
Gnaeus Naevius
Gnaeus Naevius was a roman epic poet and dramatist of the old
Latin period. He had a notable litarary career at Rome until his
satiric comments delivered in comedy angerad the metellus
family, one of whom was consul. After a ssojourn in prison he
recanted and was set free by the tribunes.

Work of Gnaeus Naevius:

Romulus and Remus
In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remusare twin brothers whose
story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome
and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of
Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the twins in their infancy
has been a symbol of the city of Rome and the ancient Romans since
at least the 3rd century BC.
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus was a
Roman playwright of the old
Latin period. His comedies
are the earliest Latin literaary
works to have survived in
their entirety.

Work of Plautus:
Fabula Palliata
Fabula palliata refers to a type of ancient Italian comedy
where the actors were dressed in Greek garments, the
social conventions were Greek, and the stories, heavily
influenced by Greek New Comedy.
 Terence
Publius Terentius afer,
better know in english as
Terence, was an African
Roman plawright during
the Roman Republic. His
comedies were performed
for the first time around
166-160 BC.

Work of Terence:
The Self-Tormentor
Heauton Timorumenos (Greek: Heauton timōroumenos, The Self-
Tormentor) is a play written in Latin by Terence a dramatist of the Roman
Republic, in 163 BC; it was translated wholly or in part from an earlier
Greek play by Menander. The play concerns two neighbors, Chremes and
Menedemus, whose sons Clitipho and Clinia are in love with different girls,
Bacchis and Antiphila. By a series of deceptions, Chremes' wily slave Syrus
dupes Chremes into paying money owed to Bacchis, who is a prostitute. The
other girl, Antiphila, is discovered to be Chremes' own daughter, whom he
promises in marriage to Clinia.
 Work of Terence:
Adelphoe, The brothers
The Woman of Andros
The Woman of Andros, play by Terence, produced
in 166 BCE as Andria. It has also been translated as
The Andrian Girl. Terence adapted it from the
Greek play Andria by Menander and added material
from Menander’s Perinthia (The Perinthian Girl).
Adelphoe (also Adelphoi and
Adelphi; from Greek ᾰ̓δελφοί,
The Eunuch Brothers) is a play by Roman
playwright Terence, adapted
partly from plays by
Eunuchus (The Eunuch) is a comedy Menander and Diphilus. It was
written by the 2nd century BC Roman first performed in 160 BC at
playwright Terence featuring a complex the funeral games of Aemilius
plot of rape and reconciliation. It was Paulus Exploring the best
Terence's most successful play during form of child-rearing, the play
his lifetime. inspired Molière's The School
for Husbands.
THE
END