Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English
After the Roman conquest of North Africa, the African urban populations fervently adopted the Latin language and the Greek-Roman way of life. Their children studied Latin, just like young North Africans today study in French or Standard Arabic. Several of the greatest Latin writers, poets, and playwrights were Roman African. In this article, we will discover Terence, the master of Latin comedy.
Publius Terentius Afer was born in Carthage, between the Second and the Third Punic War. His parents were probably slaves, like him. Given his excellent knowledge of Latin and Greek, some specialists suggested that his mother might have been an Italian slave captured by Hannibal (maybe from Southern Italy, where there were many Greek colonies).
As a young man, he was brought to Rome and sold as a slave to a Roman senator. His master educated him, and then freed him and adopted him, as he was impressed by his talent. This was a common practice for young, talented slaves. His Latin name was given to him by his former master. He then became a member of the Scipionic Circle, a group of philosophers and poets who met to discuss literature, under the patronage of Scipio Aemilianus.
He started writing in 166 BCE. His works are inspired from Greek comedy, especially Menander. Unlike older Latin comedians, his comedies are more sentimental, mostly based on character, with a finer psychology. Finally, they all bring up moral thoughts. He wrote six plays: Andria, Hecyra, Heauton Timorumenos, Eunuchus, Phormio, and Adelphoe.
Around 160, Terence traveled to Greece, looking for further inspiration for his writing. He never returned to Rome: he died in 159, of illness or in a shipwreck on his way home.
After his death, his plays started circulating as literary works to be read, rather than theatrical plays. He quickly achieved the status of “classical” writer, whose works were studied in the schools.
