Gnaeus Naevius (c. 235- 201
BCE)
Soldier, native
Campanian, and the second
Latin dramatist. Naevius was
Italian though probably not a
Roman citizen. Naevius wrote thirty-four
comedies and seven
tragedies; only fragments of these survive. His plays have freer movement and more
lively language than the dramas of
Livius. At least two of his
plays were built upon
historical events connected with Rome. Plays of this sort, with the
theme taken from
Roman history but composed in
Greek form, were called
praetextae or
togatae, in distinction to the
palliatae, which were
Greek plots translated or freely adapted into
Latin. Naevius was the
first native poet of consequence and the first to write on
Roman topics. Forced to leave
Rome, he
retired to Utica in
Africa.
http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/naevius001.html
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