Plautus

Plautus adapted Greek New Comedy into Latin plays full of mistaken identity, clever slaves, family conflict, fraud, money and theatrical energy. Works such as Menaechmi, Miles Gloriosus and Pseudolus shaped later European comedy.

For the site, Plautus belongs in Classical for pages on Roman theatre, Republican culture, comedy and literary reception. His plays provide evidence for popular performance and for the comic structures inherited by later drama.