c. 250 B.C.E.–c. 184 B.C.E.

Comic playwright

From Slave to King of Comedy.

Because Plautus was the most popular playwright in Roman history, there are many biographical details about him from many sources. It is ultimately impossible to determine which are true, or even partly true, and which are wholly false. In any case, the stories about Plautus bestow on him a colorful life, with a dramatic rise from slavery to comic sovereign. It is said that he was born in Sarsina, Umbria, around 250 B.C.E., and was a native speaker of his regional Italic language, Umbrian. "Plotus" is the Umbrian spelling of his cognomen, or last name, which may have meant "flat-footed" or "big-eared," both perfect for a comedian. This name would have been Romanized as "Plautus." "Plautus" also connotes "applause" (the modern English word comes from a Latin...