How Did Roman Theater Influence Greek Theatre

There are stories that make people laugh, while others make the crowd tear up. As of most pieces in literature, a well known piece comes from the creative mind of the writer. Roman literature was influenced towards the Greeks through format, famous writers, and the work of drama. To begin with, the format of the Roman era has modified itself into modern text. For instance, “Romans accessed their literature on handmade, handwritten papyrus scrolls. (The word ‘volume’ came from the Latin word for a scroll which is volumen, or, something ‘rolled up.’)” However, around 200 and 400 C.E., the codex, otherwise known as the book gained some recognition around ancient Rome. “This format gained popularity over the scroll.” As books started becoming popular, …show more content…
There are two genres of drama; they are comedy and tragedy. Plautus was well known from writing comedy. Most of his comedies are “based loosely on Greek ‘New Comedies.’” In addition, he adds musicals more than spoken theater to make the concept more happy and enjoyable. Plautus’s younger contemporary was Publius Terentius After, otherwise known as Terence. Terence has followed his lead and wrote comedies as well. However, his comedies involved less slapstick and music. Once of his best pieces was called “The Brothers” (Kirby). Tragedy was first introduced by a man by the name of Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Seneca was known as a tutor to emperor Nero. A tragedy is the opposite of comedy. It is a more serious drama that involves more sorrow events. Many of Seneca’s events are based on Greek originals. Many of his characters have some kind of negative emotion throughout the drama. Seneca was able to successfully get his plays to be performed on stage. However, he was not the kind of guy that would be into drama. Despite his success, it does not mean he never had any hope of seeing his work being