From the beginning of his life in the tiny mountain
village of Sarsina, Titus Maccius Plautus was called
just Plautus, which means “flatfoot.” Because he
was not a Roman citizen, Plautus was not entitled
to a full name. Driven by his love for theater and
adventure, as a boy he left his native village by joining
a traveling theatrical troupe.He later tried various
other jobs, at one point becoming a soldier for
the Roman Empire.
During his military service, Plautus was introduced
to the concept of Greek theater, specifically
Greek New Comedy and the plays of MENANDER.
After leaving the service, he supported himself by
working around the Roman stages as a carpenter
or mechanic; opening his own business, which
failed; and becoming a miller, cruising the streets
with his hand-mill.
Fascinated by the theater, Plautus soon tried his
own hand at writing. He wrote his earliest plays,
Addictus and Saturio, while working as a miller, and
it was not long before his work made him the
Roman Empire’s best-known playwright. He won
instant popularity partly because his plays appealed
to the tastes of the uneducated public, which cared
only for the entertainment and not for the contemplation
of serious political issues. Knowing that he
had to keep his audience interested—an audience
that was accustomed to bear baiting and gladiator
fighting—Plautus purposely engaged the common
public’s appreciation for the vulgar and ignored the
manners and language of the aristocracy.His works
are therefore a valuable documentation of the live,
vivacious, conversational vernacular Latin of the
third and second centuries B.C.
Despite the crudity of words and idiomatic expressions
that populate Plautus’s plays, his plots,
characters, and settings reveal the markings of
great literature. He generously employs puns, alliterations,
and plays on words, most of which cannot
be effectively reproduced in translation. On
the other hand, translations of his rich metaphors
(some taken from military operations), descriptions
of business transactions, and portrayals of
the trades of artisans reveal the clarity of a wellrounded
literary and social thinker.
Plautus composed approximately 130 pieces, 21
of which survive to this day. The play considered his
masterpiece is Captives. The German playwright
and critic Gotthold Lessing once described it as
“the best constructed drama in existence.” Other
significant works include Menaechmi (The Twin
Brothers), his first comedy to be translated into
English; and Miles Gloriosus (The Braggart Soldier),
another comedy in which Plautus created the
archetype of a swaggering soldier, which, in turn,
became very popular in Renaissance literature.
Due to his outstanding achievements, Plautus
was eventually granted citizenship and given permission
to assume a full name. Among the names
he chose for himself was Maccius, which means
“clown,” revealing his penchant for humor.
What is perhaps most remarkable about Plautus’s
works is that they represent a clear exception
to the didactic and moral characteristics of most
Roman literature of his time. Between the uniqueness
of his comedy and the clarity of the elements
of his drama, it is no wonder that Plautus’s plays
influenced a number of later writers. Molière and
Dryden imitated his Amphitryo. From Aulularia,
Molière borrowed the subject for his own Miser,
and Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is adapted
from Plautus’s Menaechmi. Today his plays are
studied by students and critics alike and performed
on stages across the globe, attesting to a
timeless appreciation for Plautus’s work, and especially
his comedies.
English Versions of Works by Plautus
Four Comedies. Translated by Erich Segal. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1996.
Plautus: Amphitruo. Edited by David M. Christenson.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press,
2000.
Works about Plautus
Moore, Timothy J. The Theater of Plautus: Playing to
the Audience. Austin: University of Texas Press,
1998.
Riehle,Wolfgang. Shakespeare, Plautus and the Humanist
Tradition. Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell &
Brewer, 1991.
Segal, Erich. Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.