Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus), c.254-184 B.C., Roman writer of comedies, b. Umbria. His plays, adapted from those of Greek New Comedy, are popular and vigorous representations of middle-class and lower-class life. Written with a mastery of idiomatic spoken Latin and governed by a genius for situation and coarse humor, Plautus' comedies achieved a great reputation. Characteristic of his plays are the stock comic figures—the knavish, resourceful slave, the young lover and his mistress, the courtesan, the parasite, and the braggart soldier. His plots and characters have had great influence upon later literature, with adaptations and imitations by many writers, e.g., Molière, Corneille, Jonson, and Shakespeare. The chronological order for Plautus' plays is unknown; 21, more or less complete, survive: Amphitruo (Amphitryon), Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, Captivi, Casina, Cistellaria, Curculio, Epidicus, Menaechmi, Mercator, Miles gloriosus, Mostellaria, Persa, Poenulus, Pseudolus, Rudens, Stichus, Trinummus, Truculentus, and Vidularia (in fragments).

(born circa 254, Sarsina, Umbria?—died 184 BC) Roman comic playwright. Little is known for certain about his life, but tradition holds that he was associated with the theatre from an early age. Like other Roman playwrights, he borrowed plots and dramatic techniques from Greek authors, especially New Comedy playwrights such as Menander. His plays, written in verse, were often farces marked by cases of mistaken identity and opportunities for slapstick, and he popularized character types such as the braggart soldier and the sly servant. Twenty-one of his comedies—among the earliest surviving works in Latin—are extant, including The Pot of Gold, The Captives, The Two Menaechmuses, The Braggart Warrior, and Pseudolus. His work influenced European comedy from the Renaissance onward, notably William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (1592–93) and Molière's The Miser (1669).

Learn more about Plautus with a free trial on Britannica.com.