While some examples of the genre treated stories from Greek myth, others were concerned with famous episodes from Roman history. Latin tragedy also flourished during the second century B.C. 205–184 B.C.), which were principally adaptations of Greek New Comedy. The earliest Latin plays to have survived intact are the comedies of Plautus (active ca.

In 240 B.C., full-length, scripted plays were introduced to Rome by the playwright Livius Andronicus, a native of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy. The literary record also indicates that Atellanae, a form of native Italic farce (much like the phlyakes of southern Italy), were performed at Rome by a relatively early date. As a whole, this pervasive culture of spectacle served both as a vehicle for self-advertisement by the sociopolitical elite and as a means of reinforcing the shared values and institutions of the entire community.Īccording to the ancient historian Livy, the earliest theatrical activity at Rome took the form of dances with musical accompaniment, introduced to the city by the Etruscans in 364 B.C.

Others were held in purpose-built spectator buildings: theaters for plays and other scenic entertainment, amphitheaters for gladiatorial combats and wild beast shows, stadia for athletic competitions, and circuses for chariot races ( 59.11.14). Some forms of spectacle-triumphal processions, aristocratic funerals, and public banquets, for example-took as their backdrop the city itself. Spectacle was an integral part of life in the Roman world.

Roman colosseum lions called