Plautus | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 18th-century portrait of Plautus | |
| Born | c. 254 BC Sarsina, Umbria, Roman Republic |
| Died | 184 BC Rome, Roman Republic |
| Occupation | playwright |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Period | Roman Republic, Ancient Rome |
| Genre | Comedy |
Titus Maccius Plautus[1] (/ˈplɔːtəs/, PLAW-təs; c. 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine /ˈplɔːtaɪn/ (PLAW-tyne) refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his.
- ^ It has been suggested that the correct spelling was Maccus, since that is how it is spelled in Asinaria line 11. Ritschl's proposal to read Maccius in that line has generally not been accepted, since it breaks a metrical law, and it was later withdrawn by Ritschl himself: W. Beare (1937), "Titus Maccus Plautus", Classical Review, Volume 53, 4; W. M. Lindsay (1922), Early Latin Verse, p. 90; C. Questa (2007) La Metrica di Plauto e Terenzio, p. 217.