The Reception of Republican Comedy in Antiquity

Literary Roman dramas were originally produced for single performances at specific festivals (from about 240 bc ); therefore reception initially did not extend beyond the immediate audiences. Hardly any information about reactions of spectators survives; it is likely that dramatic poets, producers, and organisers of festivals will have aimed at catering for the tastes of their audiences. Even though there was no entrance fee, presenting plays that went down well with the public was essential for poets and producers to further their careers and for organisers to make an impact. When, however, revival performances of existing plays began to emerge during the second century bc and dramatic scripts had become available as texts by the end of that century, dramas were gradually able to reach wider audiences. From this period onwards there is increasing evidence for reactions to Republican palliatae (comedies in Greek dress) from a variety of people in different set-ups. Over time these reactions vary in quantity and quality and illustrate different kinds of engagement with the plays: beyond watching plays, they include the reuse of motifs and phrases (by poets and other writers), commenting and editing (by scholars), or reading and assessment (by individual spectators or readers). This chapter reviews the extant information on the reception of Republican palliatae from the earliest available evidence in the Republican period until Late Antiquity (c. fifth century ad ).