The Braggart Soldier

Very little is known about Plautus’s life or the productions of his work. The only extant ancient Roman comedies are works written by Plautus and Terence, a playwright who was also a slave. During the time that Plautus was writing, there were no permanent theatres in Rome, as (the first one wasn’t erected until 55 BC in Pompey), so performances occurred in temporary spaces at festivals. Like other Roman playwrights, Plautus adapted his works from Greek plays, most of which no longer exist. But Plautus did not simply translate the originals; . hHe adapted them and added his own comic twist. His deft use of comic language, puns, and witticisms combines with his tendency to poke fun at conservative Roman society and convention.

For instance, the title of the play, Miles Gloriosus, or The Braggart Soldier, suggests that the soldier will be the hero of the piece according to the conventions of ancient Greek and Roman theatre— – think Aeschylus’s Oresteia (a tragic Greek trilogy in which the hero is Orestes), Aristophanes’s Lysistrata (a Greek comedy in which Lysistrata is the protagonist), or Plautus’s comedy The Menaechmi (in which the Menaechmus brothers win the day).