Gnaeus Naevius facts for kids

Theater in Pompeii

Gnaeus Naevius (born around 270 BC, died around 201 BC) was an important Roman poet and playwright. He lived during the time of the Old Latin period. Naevius was known for his epic poems and plays.

He had a successful writing career in Rome. However, his funny but sharp comments in his comedies sometimes made powerful families angry. One time, he upset the Metelli family, and one of them was a consul (a high-ranking Roman official). After being put in prison, he changed his mind about his jokes. He was then set free by officials called tribunes, who had the power to protect citizens.

Naevius fought as a soldier in the Punic Wars, which were major wars between Rome and Carthage. He was very patriotic and loved his country. He even created a new type of play called Praetextae Fabulae. These were tragedies about famous Roman people or events, named after the special Toga praetexta worn by important officials.

Today, we only have small pieces of his writings. These pieces were saved because later ancient writers and grammarians quoted them in their own works.

His Life Story

We don't know everything for sure about Naevius's life. Some people thought he was from a region called Campania because of a saying about "Campanian arrogance." But it's more likely he was born a Roman citizen. There was a Roman family named Naevia who were common people, which supports this idea.

Naevius served in the Roman army during the First Punic War. This means he was an adult before 241 BC, when that war ended.

He started writing plays around 235 BC. He continued for about 30 years. Later in his career, he made powerful Roman nobles angry. He especially upset the Metelli family with his jokes on stage. Because of their anger, he was put in prison. While in prison, he wrote two plays where he supposedly apologized for his earlier rudeness. The tribunes helped him get out of prison.

However, he soon had to leave Rome, around 204 BC. He went to a city called Utica. It's possible he wrote or finished his long poem about the First Punic War while he was in exile. He probably wrote his own epitaph (a short text on a tombstone) in a special Roman poetic style called Saturnian verse:

Unlike another early Roman writer, Livius Andronicus, Naevius was born in Italy, not Greece. He was also an original writer, not just someone who copied or translated Greek works. Livius helped shape Latin literature based on Greek styles. But Naevius made sure that much of Roman literature's spirit and ideas came from Rome itself.

His Writings

Like Livius, Naevius adapted Greek tragedies and comedies for the Roman stage. Some of his tragedies were called Aegisthus, Lycurgus, and Equus Troianus (meaning "The Trojan Horse"). The "Trojan Horse" play was even performed when Pompey's famous theater opened in 55 BC.

Naevius showed his Roman spirit by creating a new type of play called fabula praetexta. These were national dramas. One was about the childhood of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Another was called Clastidium, which celebrated a Roman victory over the Celts in 222 BC.

Naevius was most famous for his comedies. He wrote many of them and was very original. While he isn't considered as great a tragedy writer as some others, he was ranked highly among Roman comic writers. People described his style as energetic and lively.

His comedies were not just simple copies of Greek plays. They were more like free adaptations, similar to the plays of Plautus. Many of his comedy titles were Latin, not Greek. He used ideas from both old Greek political comedies and newer comedies about everyday life. He tried to use the stage in Rome to talk about politics and make fun of people, just like it was done in Athens.

Naevius often showed a strong political side in his plays. He was against the growing power of the Roman Senate. Besides attacking the Metelli family, he even criticized the great general Scipio for a youthful mistake. The small pieces we have from his lost comedies show a quick and lively style, much like Plautus. They also show a love for alliteration (repeating sounds), which was common in early Latin poetry.

Naevius was not only the oldest Roman playwright, but also the first to write an epic poem. This poem, called Bellum Punicum (meaning "The Punic War"), combined real history with myths. It created a new type of Roman epic poetry. The poem was one long work, but later scholars divided it into seven books.

The first part of the poem told the mythical adventures of Aeneas in Sicily, Carthage, and Italy. It even had a scene where Jupiter and Venus talked, similar to a scene in Homer's Iliad. This idea was later used by Virgil in his famous Aeneid. The later part of Naevius's poem described the events of the First Punic War like a historical story in verse.

This poem also introduced an important idea into Roman literature: the connection between Aeneas and his Trojans with the founding of Rome. The few remaining pieces of the poem show a vivid and fast-paced story. The native Saturnian verse style helped make the story flow easily.

We see Naevius as a strong and spirited Roman. He helped turn the Latin language into a powerful tool for literature. The phrases we still quote from him sound fresh and truly Roman. As a playwright, he was more like Plautus than other writers. He had a gift for funny criticism, making people look silly. While we don't have much of his work, what we do know suggests he was a very important figure in early Roman literature. We lost a unique part of Roman genius when his writings disappeared.

Surviving Titles and Fragments

• Acontizomenos (a comedy)
• Aegisthus ("Aegisthus," a tragedy)
• Aesiona (a tragedy)
• Agitatoria (a comedy)
• Agrypnuntes ("Sleepless People," a comedy)
• Appella (a comedy)
• Astiologa (a comedy)
• Clastidium ("The Fortress," a national drama)
• Colax ("The Flatterer," a comedy)
• Corollaria ("The Garlands," a comedy)
• Danae ("Danae," a tragedy)
• Dementes ("Crazy People," a comedy)
• Dolus ("The Trick," a comedy)
• Equus Troianus ("The Trojan Horse," a tragedy)
• Figulus ("The Potter," a comedy)
• Glaucoma ("The Cataract," a comedy)
• Hariolus ("The Fortune-Teller," comedy)
• Hector Proficiscens ("Hector Setting Forth," tragedy)
• Leo ("The Lion," a comedy)
• Lycurgus ("Lycurgus," a tragedy)
• Nautae ("Sailors", a comedy)
• Paelex ("The Concubine," or "Mistress", comedy)
• Personata ("Lady Wearing a Mask," comedy)
• Projectus (a comedy)
• Quadrigemini ("The Quadruplets," a comedy)
• Romulus, or Alimonium Romuli et Remi ("The Nourishing of Romulus and Remus", a national drama)
• Stalagmus (a comedy)
• Stigmatias ("The Tattooed Man," a comedy)
• Tarentilla (a comedy)
• Triphallus ("The Man With Three ...," a comedy)

See also

• Old Latin
• Saturnian (poetry)
• Theatre of ancient Rome