History of Dramatic Literature: Roman Theatre Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, playwrights, Horace's principles, and stock characters for the Roman Theatre Mini-Test.

Plautus

The earliest of the three major Roman playwrights, known for broad, popular, audience-pleasing comedies featuring elaborate cons, mistaken identities, and clever enslaved servants.

Terence

The second major Roman comic playwright, known for restrained, character-focused comedy, complex relationships, and defending his use of contaminatio in plays like Andria.

Seneca

The latest of the three major Roman playwrights, who wrote tragedies such as Medea that directly presented violence onstage and was ordered to die by suicide under Emperor Nero.

Make It Coherent

One of Horace's four core principles stating that all the parts of a work of art should fit together into a convincing, meaningful whole.

Keep Characters Consistent

Horace's principle requiring that a character's actions, language, and personality suit their character and stay believable throughout the story.

Earn the Ending

Horace's principle dictating that the story's resolution should grow logically out of prior dramatic action rather than relying on an arbitrary outside rescue like a deus ex machina.

Teach and Delight (Utile Dulci)

Horace's principle praising art that simultaneously entertains the audience and imparts something worthwhile or instructive.

Which Greek theatrical traditions strongly influenced Roman comedy?

Greek new comedy, fabula palliata, contamino,