Caecilius Statius facts for kids

Statius Caecilius, also known as Caecilius Statius (born around 220 BC, died around 166 BC), was an important Roman writer. He was famous for writing comedies, which are plays meant to make people laugh. He lived in ancient Rome and was a friend of another well-known writer named Ennius.

Life and Work

Caecilius Statius was born in a part of ancient Gaul, which is now northern Italy. He was likely born in a city called Mediolanum (modern-day Milan). It is believed he was brought to Rome as a prisoner around 200 BC during the wars between Rome and Gaul.

He started his life in Rome as a slave. Later, he gained his freedom and took the name Caecilius from his patron, who was likely a member of the powerful Caecilius family. However, some sources suggest he was born free from a family called Samnite. This family had moved to northern Italy after the Second Punic War. If this is true, he would have spoken a language similar to Latin, not Gaulish.

Caecilius Statius made a living by changing Greek plays for the Roman stage. These plays were a type of comedy called Comoedia Palliata. He often adapted works from Greek writers, especially Menander.

His plays became very popular. A famous writer named Suetonius said that Caecilius's opinion was so respected that he was asked to judge a play by Terence called Andria. This shows how important he was in the Roman theater world.

His Reputation as a Writer

After some early challenges, Caecilius Statius became very famous. Many important critics and writers praised his work:

• Volcatius Sedigitus, a theater critic, said he was the best comic poet.
• Varro admired his ability to create strong emotions and build good stories.
• Horace thought his plays had a special dignity.

However, not everyone agreed. Quintilian spoke less positively about him. Cicero also felt that Caecilius's writing style and Latin language skills were not as good as Terence's. This might have been because Caecilius was not originally from Rome.

The fact that people could refer to his plays just by their names, without saying who wrote them, shows how popular they were. Caecilius Statius stood between Plautus and Terence in how he used Greek stories. He didn't mix Greek and Roman things as much as Plautus did. But he also didn't remove everything that wasn't Roman, like Terence did.

Many parts of his plays are still known today because they were saved by Aulus Gellius. Gellius even showed parts of Caecilius's play Plocium (The Necklace) next to the original Greek version by Menander. This allows us to compare how Roman comedies were adapted from Greek ones. Caecilius's version was longer and not a direct translation, and it didn't always capture the exact feeling of the original.

His comedies often explored serious ideas about family life and how people's actions affected their place in society.

Surviving Titles and Fragments

We know the names of 42 plays written by Caecilius Statius. About half of these were based on plays by Menander, and the rest were from other Greek writers. Around 280 lines from his plays still exist today. Plocium is the best preserved, with 45 lines.

Recently, a large part of another play called Obolostates was found among ancient papyri in Herculaneum. This discovery could contain 400-500 lines of his work.

See also

• Caecilia gens