Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BCE) was a Roman playwright of the Middle Republic and the earliest Latin comic author whose work survives extensively. Active in Rome in the early 2nd century BCE, he adapted Greek New Comedy—especially plots associated with Menander and other Greek dramatists—into lively Latin stage plays. Plautus is known for energetic dialogue, wordplay, songs, and stock characters such as clever slaves, braggart soldiers, and mistaken identities. About twenty of his comedies are extant, including *Miles Gloriosus*, *Menaechmi*, and *Pseudolus*. His plays strongly influenced later Roman comedy and, much later, European theatrical traditions.