Terence
Terence (Publius Terentius Afer),the Roman playwright, author of fabulae palliatae (‘dramas in a Greek cloak’) in the 160s bc. The Life by Suetonius records that he was born at Carthage, came to Rome as a slave in the household of a senator called Terentius Lucanus, was soon freed, but died still young on a visit to Greece in 159. As usual, we have no way to check this information; his Carthaginian birth (see Carthage) may have been an incorrect deduction from his cognomen or surname (Afer, ‘the African’). He was patronized by prominent Romans, and his last play, Adelphoe, was commissioned by Scipio Aemilianus and his brother for performance at the funeral games for their father Lucius Aemilius Paullus in 160. The previous year, his Eunuchus had been an outstanding success, marked by a repeat performance and an unprecedentedly large...
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