Livius Andronicus

Lore & Background

He was originally a highly educated Greek who was bought as a slave by Roman nobles. His name combines the Greek Andronicus with the Roman family name Livius, likely from his patron. He became a freedman by the grace of his master, one of the Livia gens. Andronicus began as an educator, producing Latin translations of Greek works, including Homer's Odyssey, for the school he founded. His translation, the Odusia, was in Saturnian verse; only parts of 46 scattered lines survive. He also wrote tragedies and comedies, regarded as the first dramatic works in Latin. His comedies were based on Greek New Comedy and featured characters in Greek costume, leading Romans to call the genre comoedia palliata or fabula palliata ('cloaked comedy'). He was also an actor and, after straining his voice, was the first to leave singing to singers and limit actors to dialogue.

Reader's Guide

Livius Andronicus holds a foundational place in Roman literary history. Varro, Cicero, and Horace all considered him the originator of Latin literature. His translation of the Odyssey was one of the first examples of translation as an artistic process, making a fundamental Greek text accessible to Romans and advancing literary culture in Latin. He faced enormous problems due to the lack of an epic tradition in Italy, using archaising forms to create solemnity. His dramatic works, written in iambic senarius and trochaic septenarius, included both lyric passages and dialogue, with a large element of solos for the chief actor. The titles of his known tragedies include Achilles, Aegisthus, and Ajax with the Whip; his comedies include Gladiolus and Ludius. The success of this hymn led to public honours when his professional organization, the collegium scribarum histrionumque, was installed in the Temple of Minerva on the Aventine. The genre of palliata was imitated by later generations, cementing his legacy as the father of Roman drama.

Did You Know?

• Livius Andronicus was the first to leave singing to singers and limit actors to dialogue, after straining his own voice.
• His translation of Homer's Odyssey, the Odusia, was written in Saturnian verse; only parts of 46 scattered lines survive.
• His comedies were called comoedia palliata or fabula palliata ('cloaked comedy') because characters wore Greek costumes.
• Varro, Cicero, and Horace all considered him the originator of Latin literature.