Aux origines du théâtre à Rome: l’excursus livien

Abstract

We offer a re-reading of Livy’s famous excursus on the introduction of theatre at Rome, having these questions in mind: does he really teach us what the origins of this practice were? If not, which topic, different or complementary, does he propose? We base our inquiry on the study of the structure and the place of the passage in the Livian history; on a reading of the different steps surveyed by the historian; on an analysis of the questions raised by the apparition of the ludi scaenici and the role played by Livius Andronicus.