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Chapter 12: The Roman World
Overview of Roman Drama
• we owe a great debt to the Romans in
terms of culture, language, politics, DNA
• and also theatre, but only in certain ways
– Greek terms: theatre, drama, tragedy,
comedy, critic, theory, program, orchestration
– Roman terms: actor, circus, perform, nudity,
spectacle, media, transvestite, violence
• not to mention “histrionic opera,” “sports
personality,” and “stupid farce”
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Overview of Roman Drama
• but the Romans were, on the whole, not
innovators in theatre or drama
– they were mostly transmitters of Greek culture
• Roman drama was largely dependent on
its inimitable Greek forebear
– to the Romans, theatre was a diversion and
form of leisure, cf. neg-otium (“no business”)
– not an art to be taken seriously per se
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Overview of Roman Drama
• the works of only three Roman playwrights
have been preserved whole
– Plautus (fl. 208-186 BCE): 19 comedies
based on Greek originals by a variety of New
Comedy dramatists (Middle Comedy?)
– Terence (fl. 166-160 BCE): 6 comedies, all
from Menander and Apollodorus of Carystus
– Seneca (4 BCE - 65 CE): 8 tragedies based
on Greek tragedy, 1 fabula praetexta
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Geography
• Italy is the bootshaped peninsula
west of Greece
• Alps to the north
• Sicily to the south
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Early Rome
• myth: the Romans
were Aeneas of
Troy’s descendants
• reality: they were a
branch of the IndoEuropeans
– closely related to the
Celts (or Gauls)
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Early Rome
• myth: the early founders of the city of
Rome were the twin brothers Romulus
and Remus in 753 BCE
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Early Rome
• reality: the early
Romans were the
subjects of the
Etruscans
– culturally, if not
politically too
• today, the Etruscans
are a linguistic and
historical mystery
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Republic
• began in 510 BCE (or so we’re told)
• governed by a Senate run by patricians
• early Roman history was dominated by the
“Conflict of the Orders”
– the struggle for power between the patricians
and the plebeians (commoners)
• ultimately, the plebeians won many rights
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Republic
• also the period of the
development of the legion
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Republic
• the Romans conquered
most of Italy by 264 BCE
• came into contact with
Greeks living in Magna
Graecia (southern Italy)
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Punic Wars
• expansion brought the
Romans into contact
with Carthage
• First Punic War
(264-241 BCE)
• Second Punic War
(218-202 BCE)
– Hannibal
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Punic Wars
• ultimately, the
Romans won the
Battle of Zama
(202 BCE)
• led by the general
Scipio Africanus
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Rome in the Second Century
• the Romans were now an international
power, both militarily and economically
• they began expanding to the east
• conquered Greece by the mid-second
century BCE
• the integration of Greek and Roman
culture is called Hellenism
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• the rise of generals
• the first was Marius
– a popularis, from the
lower classes
– reformed the army
– tied his soldiers to
himself directly by
paying for their armor
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• the next was Sulla
– from the upper class
– at first, one of Marius’
lieutenants
– rose to confront Marius
– attacked and defeated
the Senate
– became dictator
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• next up was Pompey
– one of Sulla’s
lieutenants
– adulescens carnufex
– defeated Spartacus,
then the Aegean
pirates
– by 62 BCE, Rome’s
greatest general
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• finally, Julius Caesar
– from a good Roman
family, but poor
– had great charisma
– brought together
Pompey and Crassus
into the First
Triumvirate (60 bce)
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Julius Caesar
– became proconsul of
Gaul
– brought the entire area
under Roman control
– like Marius, Caesar
tied his legions to
himself, not Rome
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Julius Caesar
– crossed the
Rubicon
– defeated Pompey
at Pharsalus
– met Cleopatra in
Egypt
– then defeated the
Senate twice more
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Julius Caesar
– with that, he was in
sole control of Rome
– was assassinated on
March 15, 44 BCE
(Ides of March)
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Octavian
– Caesar’s teenage heir
– teamed up with Mark
Antony to defeat
Caesar’s assassins at
Philippi in 42 BCE
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Octavian
– but Antony went into
league with Cleopatra
– Octavian defeated
them: Actium, 31 BCE
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Revolution
• Octavian
– became princeps
• was renamed Augustus
– “restored” control of the
Roman state to the
Senate in 27 BCE
– but it was only a hollow
shell of representative
government
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Empire
• The Pax Romana
– 200 years of
relative peace (27
BCE -180 CE)
– by then, Rome
was run by a
succession of
imperatores
(“generals”)
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Roman Empire
• The Pax Romana
– great age of
prosperity and art
– emperors: Trajan,
Hadrian, Marcus
Aurelius
– authors: Vergil,
Horace, Ovid,
Juvenal
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Colosseum
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Pompeii
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Pompeii
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Pompeii
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Pompeii
Chapter 12: The Roman World
Pompeii
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Decline and Fall of Rome
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Middle Ages
Chapter 12: The Roman World
The Middle Ages