Naevius' first play was produced B.C. 235; the fact that he served as a soldier shows that he was not an actor.

Gell. xvii. 21, 45, 'Eodem anno (A.U.C. Dxix.) Cn. Naevius poeta fabulas apud populum dedit, quem M. Varro in libris de poetis primo stipendia fecisse ait bello Poenico primo, idque ipsum Naevium dicere in eo carmine, quod de eodem bello scripsit.'

In his plays he attacked the senatorial party, particularly the Metelli, and was imprisoned, but afterwards released. Gell. iii. 3, 15, 'Sicuti de Naevio quoque accepimus, fabulas eum in carcere duas scripsisse, Hariolum et Leontem, cum ob assiduam maledicentiam et probra in principes civitatis de Graecorum poetarum more dicta in vincula Romae a triumviris coniectus esset. Unde post a tribunis plebis exemptus est, cum in his, quas supra dixi, fabulis delicta sua et petulantias dictorum, quibus multos ante laeserat, diluisset.'

Pseud.-Asconius on Cic. in Verr. act. prior, 29. 'Dictum facete et contumeliose in Metellos antiquum Naevii est, "Fato Metelli Romai fiunt consules," cui tunc Metellus consul (B.C. 206) iratus versu responderat..., "Dabunt malum Metelli Naevio poetae."

Cf. the contemporary reference in Plaut. Mil. 212,

'Nam os columnatum poetae esse indaudivi barbaro,1
quoi bini custodes semper totis horis occubant.'

For Naevius' freedom of speech cf. his comedies, 1. 113 (Ribbeck),

'Libera lingua loquemur ludis Liberalibus';

1 'I have heard that a Roman poet is languishing in prison with head on hand'-probably a metaphor from a pillar (but the sense is far from certain).

1. 108 (on Scipio),

'Etiam qui res magnas manu saepe gessit gloriose,

cuius facta viva nunc vigent, qui apud gentes solus praestat, eum suus pater cum palliod unod ab amica abduxit.'

Naevius was banished and went to Utica, where he died, probably about B.C. 199. It must have been after peace was concluded (B.C. 202), as otherwise he could have reached Utica only by deserting to the enemy.1 Jerome gives B.C. 201, Cicero B.C. 204, although he says Varro put the date later. The verses on Scipio quoted above could hardly have been written before the battle of Zama. Jerome yr. Abr. 1816=B.C. 201, 'Naevius comicus Uticae moritur, pulsus Roma factione nobilium, ac praecipue Metelli.'

Cic. Brut. 60, 'His consulibus (B.C. 204), ut in veteribus commentariis scriptum est, Naevius est mortuus; quamquam Varro noster, diligentissimus investigator antiquitatis, putat in hoc erratum vitamque Naevi producit longius.

(2) WORKS.

1. Tragedies.-There are extant seven titles and a very few fragments.

2. Comedies. There are titles of about thirty-four palliatae,2 and upwards of one hundred and thirty lines extant. Naevius seems to have adopted contaminatio3 in his plays. Ter. Andr. prol. 15,

1 Utica was besieged by Scipio from 204 to 202 B.C.

2 In the fabula togata or tabernaria the surroundings of the comedy were Roman, in the fabula palliata Greek, as in Plautus' plays. Togata in a wider sense included tragedy as well as comedy.

3 This term means the construction of a new play by uniting two old ones.

'Id isti vituperant factum atque in eo disputant
contaminari non decere fabulas...

qui quom hunc accusant, Naevium Plautum Ennium
accusant.'

3. Praetextae. Tragedies on Roman subjects, 'Clastidium' and 'Romulus.' The praetexta was invented by Naevius.

4. Bellum Punicum, an epic poem in Saturnians, divided later into seven Books. About seventy-four lines are

extant.

Sueton. Gramm. 2, 'C. Octavius Lampadio Naevii Punicum bellum, uno volumine et continenti scriptura expositum, divisit in septem libros.'

Books i. and ii. contained the mythical origin of Rome and Carthage, Aeneas' flight from Troy and his sojourn at the court of Dido in Carthage. In Book iii. the history of the First Punic War commenced. The work was imitated by Ennius and Virgil, sometimes closely by the latter. Cf. Servius on Aen. i. 198-207, 'O socii,' etc. 'Et totus hic locus de Naevio belli Punici libro translatus est.' Ibid. i. 273, 'Naevius et Ennius Aeneae ex filia nepotem Romulum conditorem urbis tradunt.'

Macrob. Saturn. vi. 2, 31, 'In principio Aeneidos tempestas describitur et Venus apud Iovem queritur... Hic locus totus sumptus a Naevio est ex primo libro belli Punici.'

PLAUTUS.
(1) LIFE.

Plautus' full name, T. Maccius Plautus, was discovered by Ritschl in the Ambrosian (Milan) palimpsest, which gives, e.g. after the two plays named: 'T. Macci Plauti

6

Casina explicit': Macci Plauti Epidicus explicit.' In Plaut. Merc. 1. 6, the мs. reading Mactici was emended by Ritschl to Macci Titi; and in Asin. prol. 1. 11, Maccius is the right reading. The MSS. read Maccus, which Bücheler (Rhein. Mus. 41, 12) takes to mean 'buffoon,' or 'writer of comedies,' from which Plautus took his family name, Maccius, on becoming a Roman citizen. 'M. Accius,' formerly supposed to be the name, is found in no MS., but 'Accius' is found in Epitome Festi, p. 239, which gives us the poet's birthplace, Sarsina in Umbria, and suggests another derivation for his name: 'Ploti appellantur, qui sunt planis pedibus, unde et poeta Accius, quia Umber Sarsinas erat, a pedum planitie initio Plotus, postea Plautus est dictus.'

...

In the corresponding passage of Festus, we have only us poeta, quia Umber,' etc. The name of the poet is lost, and the epitomizer has doubtless made a mistake. Sarsina is mentioned once by Plautus, Mostell. 770,

'Quid? Sarsinatis ecquast, si Umbram non habes?'

The year of his birth can only be conjectured; he died B.C. 184.

Cic. Brut. 60, 'Plautus P. Claudio L. Porcio coss. mortuus est.'

=

Jerome erroneously assigns Plautus' death to yr. Abr. 1817 B.C. 200, 'Plautus ex Umbria Sarsinas Romae moritur, qui propter annonae difficultatem ad molas manuarias pistori se locaverat; ibi quotiens ab opere vacaret, scribere fabulas et vendere sollicitius consueverat.'

From this notice, and from the passage of Gellius below, we learn that Plautus lost in foreign trade the money he had made as an assistant to scenic artists, and had to

work for his living in a flour mill at Rome, during which time he wrote plays, and continued to do so afterwards.

Gell. iii. 3, 14, 'Saturionem et Addictum et tertiam quamdam, cuius nunc mihi nomen non subpetit, in pistrino eum scripsisse, Varro et plerique alii memoriae tradiderunt. cum, pecunia omni, quam in operis artificum scaenicorum pepererat, in mercatibus perdita inops Romam redisset et ob quaerendum victum ad circumagendas molas, quae trusatiles" appellantur, operam pistori locasset.'

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We conclude from these varied employments that Plautus can hardly have been less than thirty years old when he began to write plays. His intimacy with the Scipios (Cic. de Rep. iv., apud Augustin. Civ. D. ii. 9), who fell in Spain B.C. 212, leads to the conclusion that he must have been well-established as an author by that date, though none of his plays can be proved to have been written so early. If we suppose that his career as a playwright commenced at thirty, and that his acquaintance with the Scipios lasted ten years, the year of his birth must have been about B.C. 254. This view is supported (1) by the notice in Cic. Brut. 73, that Plautus had produced many plays by B.C. 197; (2) by Cic. Cato maior, 50, 'quam gaudebat... Truculento Plautus, quam Pseudolo,' where Plautus is said to have written these plays as senex. Now the Pseudolus was written B.C. 191; and therefore, as a man could not be called senex till he was at least sixty, his birth must have been not later than B.C. 251.

Plautus is said to have written his own epitaph. Gell. i. 24, 3, 'Epigramma Plauti, quod dubitassemus an Plauti foret, nisi a M. Varrone positum esset in libro de poetis primo: