A New History of Ancient Roman Theatre

Jessica Clarke (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

304 Seiten

2025
Liverpool University Press (Verlag)
978-1-83624-519-3 (ISBN)

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‘Roman theatre’ is a term often used to describe the theatre of ancient Italy during the second and third century BCE. Plautus and Terence are referred to as ‘Roman playwrights,’ and Rome itself is generally regarded as the driving force behind the development of theatrical culture in Italy. But was this early theatre in Italy specifically or characteristically Roman? Using previously marginalised archaeological source material and placing it in constructive dialogue with the surviving ancient literature, this book offers a significant reinterpretation of how theatre developed in the Italian peninsula, as well as a radical reappraisal of the role of Republican Rome as the impetus for cultural change. Challenging a long-held scholarly consensus, it is argued that whilst Rome would eventually rise to political and cultural dominance, the archaeological evidence does not encourage us to view Rome as a significant factor in the development of theatre in Italy until at least the end of the first century BCE and the construction of the Theatre of Pompey. Our attention is directed instead to other cities in the Italian peninsula during the third and second centuries BCE, which have hitherto been greatly overshadowed by imperialistic narratives of Roman cultural development.

In addition to the book, Appendix B, a comprehensive catalogue of all the comic visual material produced in or imported to the Italian peninsula between the end of the fourth century BCE and the middle of the first century CE is available to download via the Liverpool University Press Digital Collaboration Hub. Due to the size of the dataset, it has not been produced in print and is available exclusively on the Liverpool University Press website.

Jessica Clarke is a historian and archaeologist specialising in ancient Roman theatre and entertainment culture. She was awarded her PhD by University College London in 2024.

Introduction

The Beginnings of Theatre in Italy

Italian Theatre and the Absence of Rome

Plautus and Terence in Context

Theatres in Rome from Pompey to Augustus

Theatre Under the Principate

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix A
Appendix B

Erscheinungsdatum	24.10.2025
Reihe/Serie	Liverpool Studies in Ancient History
Zusatzinfo	black and white charts; black and white figures; black and white maps
Verlagsort	Liverpool
Sprache	englisch
Maße	163 x 239 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
ISBN-10	1-83624-519-X / 183624519X
ISBN-13	978-1-83624-519-3 / 9781836245193
Zustand	Neuware