• The fabula palliata (literally: a tale in Greek dress) is a comedy translated wholly from Greek or, in later years, a play that was mostly based on a Greek original
• The word palliata comes from the Latin word pallium for a type cloak worn by Greeks
• Playwrights of this style include: Plautus, Terence, Trabea, Caecilius, Atilius, Aquilius, Licinius Imbrex, Juventius, Vatronius, Valerius, Luscius Lanuvinus, and Turpilius

However, the only substantial works that survive are from Plautus and Terence. Only small line fragments remain from the other authors

• Common elements include an exotic location (often somewhere in Greece) with witty servants, lovesick young men and women, foolish old men, and everything wrapping up neatly by the end of the play

A sketch of the play The Menaechmi by Plautus

• The term fabula togata blankets a large mass of plays that are about native Italians and set in Italy
• Praetexta refers to the white toga of Roman senators and the plays that used the upper class citizens, famous historical figures, or mythological characters for its main characters
• Tabernaria refers to the homes of the lower citizens, whom the characters were often based upon
• Tunicata refers to the plain tunics worn by everyone, but mainly the lower-class citizens; these plays are more crude and insulting than the other two
• Playwrights of the tabernaria style include Naevius, Titinius, Afranius, and Atta
• Divided among these authors are 70 different plays and an assorted number of lines, but no complete texts
• This style is considered a reaction to the palliata, however neither one managed to remove the other from the stage
• Common elements include a less intelligent slave, fewer lovers going to extremes to be married but far more love affairs between respectable families, more husbands and wives having difficulties, and often a rural location instead of an urban one
• A noticeable difference from the fabula palliata is the increase in the female roles in the fabula togata

Statue of a man wearing a toga

• Atellan farces earned their name from the town Atella in the Oscan region 
• These are crude, short plays that rely on trickery and mistaken identity with extreme stock characters
• Atellan farces were influenced by Greek farces.
• Originally, the farces were not written, leaving the actors to remember and flesh out the basic plot lines
• These short plays were often used after another performance since they could not stand on their own feet

• Playwrights of the Atellan farces were Pomponius, with 70 different titles along with fragments amounting to about 200 lines, and Novius, with 44 titles and fragments resulting in roughly 100 lines
• These written farces were also extremely short (300 - 400 verses)
• Several farces could be performed on the same day, framing another play, and often these plays had titles to show the relationship
• Several characters were famous in farces
• Maccus is a famous farce character whose name seems to come from a Greek word that means "stupid".

There are dozens of titles concerning the antics of this character: Maccus the Exile, Maccus the Soldier, Maccus the Maid, etc.

• Bucco is the character known for his gluttonous behavior
• Pappus is the old man, who is often slightly senile and easily tricked by the other characters
• Dossennus is a name coming from dorsum or back, leading to a belief that he is a hunchback. However, he is also considered a good swindler and glutton
• Plots consisted of frequent farcical situations, cheating, trickery, and general tomfoolery.  Obscenity was highly probable.  Fragments give evidence of a fondness for riddles and double entendres.
• Literary farces used elements from all the other forms of plays, including tragedy, the palliata, the togata, and even mime for some of the elaborate gestures

• These were simple forms of theater which were known for their extravagant gestures
• Mime plays had dialogue of some kind but pantomime relied completely on the gestures and facial expressions of the actors
• Mime reached Rome by 211 B.C. at the latest because there is documentation of a mime living in Rome
• Mimes were regularly presented at the Floralia, which was an annual festival celebrated in 238 B.C.
• The Greek word mimus means "imitator" and refers to both the play and actor since both imitated life
• The common Latin word for a mimic actor was planipes or “with bare feet” implying that the actor of mime was distinguished from other types actors because he wore neither the cothurnus (buskin) of tragedy not the soccus (slipper) of comedy.

• No shoes meant a greater freedom of movement for the actors
• There were no masks used in either type of play
• Female roles were played by women only in mime and pantomime plays and women were allowed to travel in the acting troupes
• Roman comedy did take some of the stock characters, gestures, and costumes from mime and pantomime
• There are no writers or written directions for any show, which leads us to believe that they were completely created ad libitum or improvised on the spot

Mimes as we know them today with white faces and dark clothes
.........................................................................

Beare, William. The Roman Stage. London: Methuen, 1950.

Duckworth, George. The Nature of Roman Comedy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1952. 

Picture Credits:
Menaechmi Sketch
http://www.theatrehistory.com/ ancient/plautus003.html

Punch and Judy from Probert Encyclopaedia
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com

Man (Orator) in a Toga
www.vroma.org/ ~araia/toga.html

Mime
http://www.mimetime.com/characters.html