PLAUTUS
Titus Maccius Plautus (c.254-184BC)

Born in Umbria, Plautus moved to Rome where he became an actor, probably playing Maccus in the fabula Atellanae, hence his middle name. Maccus is a simple, gluttonous fool ala John Belushi in Animal House. According to one probably apochryphal legend, Plautus was so successful financially as an actor that he decided to go into business at which he failed, losing all his money. He then supposedly took a job at a mill and used his spare time to write plays. In any case, his background as an actor undoubtedly accounts for the "playability" of his material. They generally "work."

Plautus' plays were apparently written to amuse--to actually make people laugh rather than to grind some political or pholosophical axe. They reflect his practical background in Italian popular comedy as well as the influence of Greek New Comedy. (See Menander) In fact all of Plautus' characters pretend to be Greek (fabulae palliatae). The plays are usually set in or near Athens. Plautus enjoys spoofing the "Greekish" tone of of the plays. For example, in Stichus title character, one of Plautus' crafty slaves, assures he Roman audience, "We're allowed to do this sort of thing at Athens."

Stichus is an example of Plautus' greatest, at least most popular, character, the clever slave whose number includes Pseudolus, Epidicus, Palaestrio from the Miles Gloriosus , and Tremio from the Mostellaria (The Haunted House). His other characters include greedy pimps like Ballio from the Pseudolus; bitchy wives like Mme Menaechmus and lots of others; and plenty of old men, some silly senile Lotharios like Lysidamus in Casina, and some dupes like Theopropides in Mostellaria. All these types and more live anew in Bert Shrevelove, Larry Gelbart and Steven Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) and my own The Eunuch's Mother-in-law (1999).

Plautus' humor functions on many levels. The plots (usually involving love affairs thwarted by meddlers of some kind) lead to goofy situations. The characters lend themselves to parody, burlesque, and even some gentle character fun which some critics have likened to Jonson's comedies of humours, though this stretches credulity. You can usually find what you're looking for, after all. Plautus' plays lots of wit and extravagant use of imaginative language ranging from mock heroic, "mock elegant, mock everything," as Erich Segal put it. The humor usually is "about" trickery--malitia--shrewdness. We are still fascinated by cleverness whether it be Sgt. Bilko's sly variety or Lucy's bumbling sort.

Plautus probably wrote only the twenty plays which have survived, though his great popularity led many to use his name to sell their inferior wares. If you wanted the attention of an audience, mention Plautus and you had it.