Livius Andronicus

Livius Andronicus , fl. 3d cent. BC, Roman poet, a Greek, b. Tarentum (Taranto). He was captured and made a slave at the fall of Tarentum and was freed by his master, a Livian noble, hence his name. Later he became a teacher and an actor. He introduced Greek literature into Rome, translating the Odyssey and adapting Greek plays that he first produced in c.240 BC Sometimes called the founder of Roman drama, he composed and acted in the first comedy and the first tragedy in Latin (both adopted from Greek models). Only fragments of his works remain.

Andronicus, Lucius Livius (c.284–c.204 BC), Roman dramatist (probably of Greek origin, and a manumitted slave) who in 240 BC produced in Rome the first Latin version of a Greek play. Up to this time the Roman stage seems to have known only a formless medley of dance, song, and buffoonery. The introduction of plays with a regular plot was successful, and Andronicus, who is important as a pioneer though his style was uncouth, continued to translate and produce plays taken from Greek tragedy and New Comedy until his death. From the fragments of his work that remain it is evident that he introduced into his verse metres which he was, as far as we know, the first to employ, and which later Roman dramatists used for over 200 years.