Dances to Flute Music and Obscene Verse. It's Roman Theater, Everybody: Crash Course Theater #5

Summary

In this Crash Course Theater episode, host Mike Rugnetta explores the development of Roman theater, its Greek influences, and its unique forms of entertainment. Roman theater borrowed heavily from Greek traditions, especially comedies and tragedies, but also created original forms like the Atellan farce and fabula palliata. The episode discusses Roman theater’s professionalization, the role of actors, and its competition with other forms of entertainment like gladiator battles and sea spectacles. The evolving nature of Roman theater is contextualized within the broader cultural and political landscape of the time.

Takeaways

• 🎭 Roman theater was heavily influenced by Greek theater, especially in terms of comedy and some aspects of tragedy.
• 🏛️ Alexander the Great spread Greek theatrical traditions across the lands he conquered, which contributed to their influence on Roman theater.
• 😲 Roman entertainment evolved to include more than just theater, such as gladiator battles, obscene mimes, and lewd performances with animals.
• 😂 Greek comedy evolved over time, transitioning from the lewd Old Comedy to the more realistic New Comedy, which focused on family and everyday situations.
• 📜 Menander was a prominent writer of New Comedy, creating plays that were praised for their realism, though many of his works have been lost to history.
• 🎶 Early Roman theater evolved through stages, starting from simple dances and moving toward more complex plays with music and storylines.
• 🤡 The Atellan farce, a form of Roman comedy based on stock characters like the braggart soldier and pompous doctor, was vulgar and popular with Roman audiences.
• 🎭 Fabula palliata, a Roman genre of plays, was largely adapted from Greek New Comedy, often retaining Greek settings and characters.
• 🛠️ Roman theater became professionalized quickly, with actors (many of whom were slaves) having low social status and facing harsh consequences for poor performances.
• 🍿 Roman theater faced competition from other entertainment forms like gladiator battles, sea battles, and animal shows, which sometimes drew away audiences from plays.

Q & A

What influenced Roman theater to resemble Greek theater?

Roman theater was heavily influenced by Greek theater, particularly through the spread of Greek culture by Alexander the Great, who disseminated Greek theatrical traditions across the lands he conquered.

What are some examples of original Roman entertainment?

Original Roman entertainment included gladiator battles, copulating animals, nude miming prostitutes, and dwarves chasing women with clubs.

How did Greek theater evolve after the Peloponnesian War?

After the Peloponnesian War, the Golden Age of theater in Athens ended. Tragedians like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides no longer emerged, and festival operators allowed old plays to be revived. While comedy continued to thrive, it became more conservative and less lewd.

How did Menander’s New Comedy differ from earlier Greek comedy?

Menander’s New Comedy was more realistic and less obscene than Old and Middle Comedy. It focused on everyday situations involving family dynamics, vain soldiers, and wily slaves rather than gods or larger-than-life figures. Absurdity and padded buttocks were absent, and the plays often reflected real life.

What were the five stages of Roman theater according to Livy?

According to Livy, Roman theater evolved in five stages: (1) dances to flute music, (2) obscene improvisational verse and dances to flute music, (3) medleys of dances to flute music, (4) comedies with storylines and sections of lyric poetry, and (5) comedies with storylines, songs, and an additional comedic performance at the end.

What is Atellan farce, and what did it involve?

Atellan farce was a type of lewd improvisational comedy involving stock characters, like a bragging soldier and a pompous doctor. It featured actors improvising comedy, often with fake phalli.

What was the fabula palliata, and how did it relate to Greek plays?

The fabula palliata was a Roman comedic form that largely consisted of Latin adaptations of Greek New Comedy plays, especially those of Menander. It featured Greek characters in Greek settings, with much of the content borrowed from Greek originals.

How did the status of actors differ between Greece and Rome?

In post-Classical Greece, actors gained better social status and organized into a guild, whereas in Rome, acting was not respectable. Roman actors could not vote, serve in the military, or hold public office, and they faced harsh penalties for bad performances.

What was the significance of the Ludi Romani in the development of Roman theater?

The Ludi Romani was a festival honoring Jupiter, established by Tarquin in the late sixth century BCE. It became a venue for theatrical performances, which were formally added to the festival in 240 BCE as a way to entertain and uplift the people during a time of plague.

How did Roman theater differ architecturally from Greek theater?

Roman theaters had larger scaena (stage buildings) that were connected to the auditorium walls, making them more elaborate than Greek theaters. The front of the scaena (scaena frons) often hosted rudimentary scenery. Permanent theaters were not built until 55 BCE, significantly later than in Greece.