Ancient Roman playwrights, who were the famous playwrights of ancient Rome?

The glow of ancient Greek drama was so dazzling that for a long time the dramatists of ancient Rome could only look up at it in amazement and imitate it in worship. According to historical records, ancient Rome also produced dozens of playwrights, but in the vast history, most of them were like mud and sand, slowly dissipating. To this day, only the comedians Plautus and Terrentius, the tragedy Seneca, and the theorist Horace are worth mentioning.

Ancient Roman Cultural Site: Piazzale Grande.

Ancient Roman drama sprouted from the ancient sacrifices to the god of agriculture and agricultural festivals. A rather rude, playful form of improvisational poetry duet called the Fischeni tune was popular among the Roman folklore of the bridge, which was often used by peasants to mock each other in celebration of the harvest. Fisceni tunes have the rudiments of dramatic dialogue.

When a plague broke out in Rome in 364 B.C., the Romans invited the Etruscans to perform a dance to ward off evil spirits. The solemn and graceful dances performed by the Etruscans aroused the interest of the Romans, who imitated them by the young Romans, and at the same time added the fisqueeni melody of mocking duets and corresponding movements, so that the "vaudeville" gradually became formed. "Vaudeville" is based on the theme of everyday life, and the performer is called "Kisterio", which means actor.

Another form of early Roman drama was the Atra comedy, which emerged in Rome around 300 BC. It was originally a play of the Osques of Campegna, which later spread to Rome and was very popular with the number of springs. The Atra comedy is mainly based on the rural life of ancient Italy, the actors wear masks, and there are 4 main character types:

Marcus" Foolish Harlequin; "Bucco" greedy rapper; "Pappus" a stingy, lustful older man; "Dosenus" is a hunchback who is unlearned, unskilled, and swaggering. In addition, parody was popular in Rome, probably copied from the Greeks in southern Italy. The subject matter of the parody is similar to that of the Atra comedy, sometimes parodying mythological characters, the performance is known for its comic imitation, the actors do not wear masks, and women can also participate in the performance.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Europe entered the Middle Ages, and the secular theatrical traditions of the ancient caves and Rome were suppressed and destroyed by the Church. It was only during the Renaissance that the ancient Roman drama was re-emphasized, and the humanists were inspired by it as an idea to fight against the Church. During the Classicist period, Roman drama continued to be admired, and Plautus, Terentius, comedies, and the tragedy of Seneca became the object of imitation by playwrights and the basis for the ideas of literary theorists.

On the one hand, ancient Roman drama directly influenced the development of European drama, and on the other hand, because it inherited the achievements of ancient Greek drama, it played an intermediary and bridge role in the development of European theater.