Gnaeus Naevius
Roman epic poet and dramatist of the Old Latin period, inventor of the Praetextae Fabulae and author of the Bellum Punicum.
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Gnaeus Naevius (c. 270 – c. 201 BC) was a Roman poet and playwright from the Old Latin period. He built a significant career in Rome until his comedies’ satirical jabs provoked the powerful Metellus family, one of whose members was consul. Imprisoned for this, he recanted and was freed by tribunes, who wielded the tribunician power—essentially the power of habeas corpus. After a second offense, he was exiled to Tunisia, where he composed his own epitaph and took his own life.
His comedies belonged to the Palliata Comoedia, a genre adapted from Greek New Comedy. A veteran of the Punic Wars, he was intensely patriotic and created a new dramatic form, the Praetextae Fabulae, which extended tragedy to Roman national figures and events, named after the toga praetexta worn by high officials. Only fragments of his works survive, preserved in quotations by late ancient grammarians such as Charisius, Aelius Donatus, Sextus Pompeius Festus, Aulus Gellius, Isidore, Macrobius, Nonius Marcellus, Priscian, and Marcus Terentius Varro.
Background
Much of the information concerning the life of Naevius is coloured by uncertainty. Aulus Gellius describes the epitaph of Naevius as demonstrating 'Campanian arrogance,' based on which statement it has been suggested that Naevius was a native of Campania. The phrase 'Campanian arrogance' seems, however, to have been a proverbial or idiomatic phrase indicating boastfulness.
Further, the fact that there was a plebeian gens Naevia in Rome, makes it quite possible, even likely, that Naevius was a Roman citizen by birth. He served either in the Roman army or among the socii in the First Punic War, and thus must have reached manhood before 241. His career as a dramatic author began with the exhibition of a drama in or about the year 235, and continued for thirty years.
Towards the close he incurred the hostility of some of the nobility, especially, it is said, of the Metelli, by the attacks which he made upon them on the stage, and at their insistence he was imprisoned. After writing two plays during his imprisonment, in which he is said to have apologized for his former rudeness, he was liberated through the interference of the tribunes of the commons; but he had shortly afterwards to retire from Rome (in or about 204) to Utica. It may have been during his exile, when withdrawn from his active career as a dramatist, that he composed or completed his poem on the First Punic War. Probably his latest composition was his own epitaph, written in saturnian verse.
If these lines were dictated by a jealousy of the growing ascendancy of Ennius, the life of Naevius must have been prolonged considerably beyond 204, the year in which Ennius began his career as an author in Rome. Unlike Livius Andronicus, Naevius was a native Italian, not a Greek; he was also an original writer, not a mere adapter or translator. If it is due to Livius that the forms of Latin literature were, from the first, molded on those of Greek literature, it is due to Naevius that much of its spirit and substance was of native growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gnaeus Naevius?
Gnaeus Naevius (c. 270 – c. 201 BC) was a Roman poet and playwright working during the Old Latin period. He is remembered as one of the earliest figures to shape both Roman epic poetry and native dramatic tradition.
What are Gnaeus Naevius's major works?
His reputation rests on the epic poem Bellum Punicum, a set of satiric comedies in the Palliata tradition, and early plays in the Praetexta genre. Very little of his actual text survives, so most knowledge comes from later references.
What is a Praetexta and what did Naevius contribute to it?
A Praetexta is a Roman dramatic form that applies tragic conventions to native historical figures and events rather than Greek myth. Naevius is credited as one of the first poets to experiment with this genre, helping to establish it as a recognized category.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Gnaeus Naevius (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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