Plautus, Titus Maccius (c. 250–c. 184 BC)

Roman comic dramatist. Born in Umbria, he settled in Rome and began writing plays about 224 BC. Twenty-one comedies survive in his name; 35 other titles are known. Many of his plays are based on Greek originals by playwrights such as Menander, to which Plautus added his own brand of native wit and sharp character-drawing. He had a perfect command of language and metre, and enjoyed unrivalled popularity in his day; since the Renaissance he has been acknowledged as one of the greatest of ancient playwrights.

John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Gotthold Lessing, and others imitated him; his Aulularia inspired Molière's L'Avare/The Miser, and Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors is based on the Menaechmi.