Stage Acting and the Actor in Ancient Rome

Abstract

The Roman theatre provided a space especially imbued with an aura of performance, power and divine presence. It was in the theatre that the earliest works of Latin literature that survived were performed. The citizens flocked to the arena or theatre by rank, representing the city's political and social reality. To appear on stage and exhibit oneself to the people was never regarded as disrespectable among the Greeks, as it was thought a matter of honour to be proclaimed conqueror in Olympia and also to be sent on important political missions. With the Romans, however, all those acts were regarded as either disgraceful or as base and inconsistent with respectability because public entertainment in the Roman world had its origins in religious observance, and it developed into a crucial and, decisive factor in political manipulation. This essay attempts to put in perspective the attitudes and prejudices of the elite Roman community toward the acting profession and its practitioners during the late republic and early empire. The evidence for this comes from iconography, legal and literary texts.