0:00:03 > 0:00:05In this series,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09I've looked at how theatre was first invented in ancient Athens
0:00:09 > 0:00:14and at how it played a vital part in the lives of the Ancient Greeks.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I've also seen how it grew in scale and popularity,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20spreading throughout the Greek world and beyond.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23But in this episode,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I want to look at what happened to theatre when the Romans arrived
0:00:27 > 0:00:31and when the era of Greek dominance and independence drew to a close.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34It's a story that is symbolised
0:00:34 > 0:00:38by a building that was constructed in Athens in the 2nd century AD
0:00:38 > 0:00:42and which still looks proudly over the modern city.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47This magnificent theatre
0:00:47 > 0:00:51was paid for by one of Athens' richest citizens -
0:00:51 > 0:00:53an intellectual called Herodes Atticus -
0:00:53 > 0:00:57who had it carved out of the rock beneath the Acropolis,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01at the heart of the very city where tragedy and comedy were born.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Herodes Atticus built this theatre
0:01:04 > 0:01:07in memory of his recently deceased wife, Regilla.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10It's not a bad way to say, "I miss you."
0:01:10 > 0:01:13But although Herodes was Greek, and we're in Greece,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15this is not your typical Greek theatre.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And that's because it was built when the Romans controlled Greece.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21And that Roman influence is very discernable
0:01:21 > 0:01:25in the way the 28-metre high solid-stone backdrop walls
0:01:25 > 0:01:28meet absolutely with the seating on either side -
0:01:28 > 0:01:31a very Roman conception of theatre, not a Greek one.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36And as a result, the theatre is the perfect symbol
0:01:36 > 0:01:39for what happened when the Romans took over Greece.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42They adopted Greek art, architecture and culture,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46and in doing so, preserved the legacy of Greek theatre
0:01:46 > 0:01:49for us today. But they also adapted Greek theatre
0:01:49 > 0:01:52for their own - very Roman - ends.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57The ways in which that process of adoption and adaptation took place
0:01:57 > 0:02:00give us a fascinating window into one of the most dynamic
0:02:00 > 0:02:03and monumental periods of ancient history,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06as the Romans turned the Mediterranean Sea
0:02:06 > 0:02:09into "Mare Nostrum" - their lake.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13In this episode,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I want to look at the vital part played by the Romans
0:02:16 > 0:02:20in the preservation of Greek drama and in the history of theatre.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23And I want to explore how this famous empire
0:02:23 > 0:02:27provides one of the crucial connections between our modern drama
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and the great plays of Ancient Greece.
0:02:47 > 0:02:53Drama as we know it was invented in Athens in the 6th century BC.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54At the very same time,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Athens created the world's first democracy.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00One man, one vote.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03And the two came together in an explosive mixture.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06Year after year,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13the city put on tragic drama and comedy for an audience of citizens.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Plays like Oedipus The King, The Persians,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Antigone and the Bacchae
0:03:18 > 0:03:22told savage stories of murder, violence and incest
0:03:22 > 0:03:24drawn from myth and legend,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27while comedies like Birds and Lysistrata
0:03:27 > 0:03:29mocked daily life in Athens
0:03:29 > 0:03:33through bawdy humour, absurd fantasy and political satire.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36All of these plays were more than just stories.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39They unlocked issues of justice and loyalty,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41war and peace, vengeance and compassion -
0:03:41 > 0:03:44all issues the audience had to think about
0:03:44 > 0:03:47as active citizens in a democracy.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53For a century, theatre and democracy had helped to bring Athens
0:03:53 > 0:03:57to a peak of political and cultural dominance.
0:03:57 > 0:03:58But after 400 BC,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03defeat in war destroyed the city's power and independence.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Democracy slowly gave way to autocratic kings
0:04:06 > 0:04:07like Alexander the Great.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11But despite this, theatre continued to prosper,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14spreading far and wide across the Greek world
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and throughout the empire built by Alexander.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I'm on my way to a remote valley in Epirus in north-western Greece
0:04:22 > 0:04:24to look at the part theatre played
0:04:24 > 0:04:26in this bigger, more autocratic world.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31For the classical Greeks, this was a harsh and inhospitable place
0:04:31 > 0:04:34at the north-western frontiers of the Greek world.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Thucydides went as far as to say
0:04:36 > 0:04:38that people from here were "barbarians".
0:04:38 > 0:04:42And yet at the same time, Aristotle claimed that the Hellenes -
0:04:42 > 0:04:45the Greeks - originated from this part of the world.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48In many ways, it was that curious ambiguity
0:04:48 > 0:04:51that was this place's main attraction.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00This is Dodoni, at the heart of the Epirus region.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04In ancient times, it was the site of a famous oracle.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Greeks came here from all over to get answers to their problems
0:05:07 > 0:05:10from Olympian Zeus, King of the Gods.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15One popular story was that oracular responses were divined
0:05:15 > 0:05:18by listening to the rustling of the leaves on the sacred tree.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Another that there was a series of bronze cauldrons around the tree
0:05:21 > 0:05:23that made sonorous noises.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Now, this place was never as flash as other oracular sanctuaries,
0:05:27 > 0:05:32like Delphi. That was, until the early 3rd century BC,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34when everything changed.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The turning point was the death of Alexander the Great.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43His enormous empire fragmented
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and much of Greece came under the control of warlords,
0:05:47 > 0:05:48autocrats and kings.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Dodoni was no exception,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54and it eventually came under the control of a man called Pyrrhus.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57These were more turbulent times,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and you might expect theatre to suffer as a result,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03but the ruins here at Dodoni tell a different story.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17This spectacular theatre could hold at least 20,000 spectators.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21It was part of a huge building programme instigated by Pyrrhus,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and it was the centrepiece of a grand new annual festival.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Pyrrhus was a classic warlord
0:06:30 > 0:06:33from the time following that of Alexander the Great,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36to whom he was related. He was not a democrat, he was an autocrat,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39the kind of guy who had his co-ruler murdered.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40But in building, here at Dodoni,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42this theatre and the athletic tracks,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and setting up the competitions and festivals,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Pyrrhus gave a concrete centre,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51not only for the new alliance that brought Epirus together,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55but also a concrete demonstration of his own personal power.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57The very architecture of this theatre,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01its retaining walls, look like Hellenistic fortress towers.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03And by doing all this,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Pyrrhus put Dodoni, Epirus and himself on the map
0:07:07 > 0:07:10as players in the wider Greek world.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Rather than taking a back seat
0:07:14 > 0:07:17in the rivalries and conflicts that beset Greece,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21theatre had become a tool in these power struggles.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It was a symbol of power and prestige.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29But the plays that would have been performed at Dodoni
0:07:29 > 0:07:31and at other theatres throughout Greece
0:07:31 > 0:07:35were no longer the same democratically charged tragedies
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and satirical comedies with which theatre began.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Instead, the stories that played out in these grand arenas
0:07:43 > 0:07:45were more down-to-earth affairs.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48As Athens' power waned,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52its brightest star was the comedian Menander,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56whose universally acceptable and enjoyable situation comedy
0:07:56 > 0:07:59meant that he and his plays debunked Athens' decline,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and spread throughout the now-much-wider Greek world
0:08:02 > 0:08:04that went all the way into Asia,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07and whose epicentres were now not in central Greece,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10but in places like Alexandria in Egypt
0:08:10 > 0:08:12or Pergamon in Asia Minor.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Indeed, what we have of Menander today has survived to us
0:08:16 > 0:08:19because it was written down on papyri
0:08:19 > 0:08:21in desert places like Egypt,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24which is what makes it all so frustrating that, today,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27despite his incredible popularity in the ancient world,
0:08:27 > 0:08:32we only have one complete surviving play of Menander.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33That is, until recently.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Because now we have enough bits and pieces of a second
0:08:37 > 0:08:39to put its plot back together.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42It was called the Woman Of Samos.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47The woman of the title is a prostitute called Chrysis.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50She has been invited to live with her lover, Demeas,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and his son, Moschion, in Athens.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55But while Demeas is away on business,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Moschion gets the girl next door pregnant.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02When the child is born, he gives it to Chrysis to nurse,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05hoping to keep it a secret until a marriage can be arranged.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09But when Demeas returns, a series of misunderstandings
0:09:09 > 0:09:12lead him to believe that his son and his courtesan
0:09:12 > 0:09:14have been having an affair.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Comedy and carnage ensue,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19but eventually the play ends well, with Moschion's wedding
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and the reconciliation of Demeas and Chrysis.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25It's very much a domestic comedy
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and a comedy of manners playing on stock characters.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30You've got the courtesan
0:09:30 > 0:09:32who's actually very good-natured,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35you've got an angry old father
0:09:35 > 0:09:39and the misguided young man who's trying to get married,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and, you know, the cook. The usual crowd.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44It's about a family,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46it's got a love story in it, of course,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49it's about a couple who are eventually going to get married
0:09:49 > 0:09:51one way or another.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I think it transfers very well culturally.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It's a comedy of errors, and these always work,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59no matter where you are.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Plays like this pulled in audiences from Afghanistan to Marseilles,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06throughout the wider Greek world
0:10:06 > 0:10:08and what had once been Alexander's empire.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10And nowhere were they more popular
0:10:10 > 0:10:14than in the Greek colonies of Italy and Sicily.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Rich, cultured and powerful, these Greek settlements
0:10:17 > 0:10:20were the opposite of a colonial backwater -
0:10:20 > 0:10:23they were the equals of any Greek cities anywhere.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26They were a byword for luxury and style,
0:10:26 > 0:10:27and they adored theatre.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32One of the most enthusiastic was here -
0:10:32 > 0:10:34the city of Syracuse in Sicily.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Syracusan patrons had invited the great Athenian dramatists
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Aeschylus and Sophocles to perform their plays here.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44And Syracusan dramatists had written and produced plays back in Athens
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and even introduced their own native form of drama - mime -
0:10:47 > 0:10:48to the great city.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52The success of theatre here in Sicily
0:10:52 > 0:10:55demonstrates the pulling power of Greek culture
0:10:55 > 0:10:57in the ancient world.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Greek drama, architecture, vase painting and sculpture
0:11:01 > 0:11:03were an intoxicating attraction -
0:11:03 > 0:11:06they were the height of sophistication.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08And in 282 BC,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12the wealth and culture of the Greeks in southern Italy and Sicily
0:11:12 > 0:11:15attracted the attention of a new power - Rome.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22It was at the Greek city of Taras, now Taranto,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26that the Romans first forced their way into the Greek landscape.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31The people of this city found themselves attacked from the sea
0:11:31 > 0:11:32by a Roman fleet.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37The Tarentines won this encounter,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39but we all know their luck wasn't going to last.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Within little more than 250 years,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Rome would be calling the Mediterranean "Mare Nostrum" -
0:11:46 > 0:11:47"Our Sea".
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The Tarentines knew it too.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53When Rome attacked, they sent out a call for help
0:11:53 > 0:11:54to their fellow Greeks -
0:11:54 > 0:11:57a call that reached the ears of the warlord Pyrrhus,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00across the Adriatic in Dodoni.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Dodoni had long been connected
0:12:03 > 0:12:05to the Greek colonies of southern Italy,
0:12:05 > 0:12:06one of which was Taras,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08and so it was in a fantastic position
0:12:08 > 0:12:11to know that things in the west were changing.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And so when Rome attacked Taras, it's no surprise
0:12:14 > 0:12:18that Taras came here, to Epirus and to Pyrrhus, to ask for help.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Pyrrhus, just a few years before, had failed in his campaigns
0:12:22 > 0:12:24to expand his empire east.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27This was his opportunity to head west.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Pyrrhus sailed for Italy to check the upstart Romans
0:12:34 > 0:12:40with an army of 25,000 soldiers and 20 elephants.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43But the Romans fought much harder than he had expected.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Even his victories cost thousands of lives.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50"Another such victory," said Pyrrhus after one of them,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54"and we shall be lost." In fact, one of Pyrrhus' greatest legacies
0:12:54 > 0:12:57is the term "pyrrhic victory" -
0:12:57 > 0:13:01a victory won at too great a cost to be worthwhile.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03In the end, the attempts of Pyrrhus and the Greeks
0:13:03 > 0:13:06to withstand the Romans failed.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09And when Pyrrhus returned to Greece to expand his domains elsewhere,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11he was killed in a street fight
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and his empire collapsed like a house of cards.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20When news of Pyrrhus' death reached Taras in 272 BC -
0:13:20 > 0:13:21the death of a commander
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Hannibal thought second only to Alexander the Great -
0:13:24 > 0:13:26the city capitulated.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28It was the beginning of the end. By the end of the century,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33most of the Greek cities of Italy and Sicily were under Roman control.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34And when the Romans took Taras,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37they didn't just take its buildings,
0:13:37 > 0:13:38they took its people.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42And that, according to one source, included a playwright.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Theatre was about to enter the Roman bloodstream.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52And it did so as part of a wider Roman desire for all things Greek.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58When we think of the Romans,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01we think of the grandeur of Empire and the glory of Rome
0:14:01 > 0:14:03which are expressed here in the Forum,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08the teeming centre of ancient Roman public life.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11But when Rome first conquered Taras,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14it had not yet become the centre of a mighty empire.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19It was a city-state, a republic, on the hunt for power and prestige.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25And one of the ways it could get it
0:14:25 > 0:14:28was by absorbing the cultural achievements
0:14:28 > 0:14:29of the conquered Greeks,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33including architecture, literature and, of course, drama.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35We've become so used today
0:14:35 > 0:14:39to seeing Rome as the eternal city, the imperial city -
0:14:39 > 0:14:45powerful, solid, indisputably in charge of all they survey.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47But of course, we first need to dial ourselves back
0:14:47 > 0:14:49to the very origins of this place,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52to when it was a pugnacious republican city,
0:14:52 > 0:14:53dominated by rival clans,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56fighting to gain that supremacy and that power.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Not far from the Roman forum, in the Largo Argentina,
0:15:02 > 0:15:0620 feet below the city streets of modern Rome,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10you can see how this upstart Roman republic worked,
0:15:10 > 0:15:11and how it responded
0:15:11 > 0:15:13when it brushed up against the Greeks -
0:15:13 > 0:15:16the cultural champions of the ancient world.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18Today, when we look around Rome,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22we're seeing mostly Imperial Rome, we're seeing the eternal city.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24How would you sum up to someone
0:15:24 > 0:15:28what it was like to be in Rome during the republican era?
0:15:29 > 0:15:34If you can imagine a large mafia,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38which doesn't use violence between the rival clans
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and is also the state,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and also has a clientelistic relationship, like the mafia,
0:15:44 > 0:15:45with the people low down,
0:15:45 > 0:15:50that sense of the power of the individual family,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54their competitiveness, their sense of personal honour,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57the ease of front, and the vast amount of fixing
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and the money that comes out of it,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04I think those are all things that would strike a Greek visitor.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07For these Romans, the conquest of the Greek cities in Italy
0:16:07 > 0:16:10made Rome a city that mattered.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12And incorporating aspects of Greek culture
0:16:12 > 0:16:14was a great way to show it.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Are there elements of the Greek world
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and of Greek architectural styles and art
0:16:19 > 0:16:21that we can see within Roman buildings?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Yes. Things that aren't here any more.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26The cult statues, things like that, were very Greek.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30The orders - the Corinthian order, Doric order, Ionic order -
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but also, if we can see over there, I don't know...
0:16:33 > 0:16:36They understand that Greek temples have to glint.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38They understand that they're made of white marble.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41You can see this local, brown, rather crumbly stone - the tufo.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44They understand that doesn't look like Greek temples.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48You look on the columns over there, just the remains, the white stuff -
0:16:48 > 0:16:52that's stucco. It looks rather like large amounts of chewing gum,
0:16:52 > 0:16:53but actually it's stucco,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56which is meant to clad this brown tufo stone.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58And when you polish it, it shines.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It's got little bits of ground-up mica and marble in it
0:17:01 > 0:17:03so it gives that effect that you would see
0:17:03 > 0:17:07if you went to Greece or Sicily and saw a full-on marble temple.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09So are these the Romans trying to compete with
0:17:09 > 0:17:11the extraordinary examples of Greek architecture
0:17:11 > 0:17:16or is it to sort of show they have somehow taken over the mantel
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and incorporated them and are better than...?
0:17:19 > 0:17:23I think initially it is competition - I think they opened their eyes
0:17:23 > 0:17:26to what can be done and what should be done.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29If you want a proper city with proper houses for the gods
0:17:29 > 0:17:33which properly commemorate your relationship with them,
0:17:33 > 0:17:34that's how you do it.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37As we pass later towards the end of the Republic,
0:17:37 > 0:17:38it becomes a discourse of dominance -
0:17:38 > 0:17:42it's about saying "We've taken it, we've conquered it, we've earned it
0:17:42 > 0:17:44"and now we're doing it bigger and better."
0:17:44 > 0:17:47And one of the things that gets inserted into that mix
0:17:47 > 0:17:54in the mid 3rd century is theatre, Greek theatre and Greek playwrights.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57What does theatre offer and why is it taken up?
0:17:57 > 0:18:00I think it offers something sophisticated,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02so there's clearly an appreciation
0:18:02 > 0:18:06that there's a superior culture, which manifests in this way,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10in the sense that this is how a community ought to behave,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13it ought to have these sort of ways of expressing itself.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Very important in the Roman context, as in the Greek context,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19that these are plays staged at religious opportunities.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Like this temple, the plays are another acquisition of Empire.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Some types of poetry and drama
0:18:28 > 0:18:31did already exist in the Roman world,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35including forms of farce, mime and religious performance,
0:18:35 > 0:18:41but soon after the capture of Taras, the Romans started staging plays.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44These plays were put on at religious festivals
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and relied heavily on Greek stories and the Greek style.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52The man who wrote them was called Lucius Livius Andronicus.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Sadly, only fragments and titles of his works survive,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57but they paint an intriguing picture.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Livius Andronicus was not a Roman,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04but probably a Greek, potentially a slave,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and, according to some sources, from the Greek city of Taras,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10the very city that the Romans had captured in battle.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14And yet some of the greatest writers in Roman history
0:19:14 > 0:19:17call him the father of Latin literature.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19He began, it was said,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22by translating Greek texts into Latin for use in schools,
0:19:22 > 0:19:23and his own tragedies
0:19:23 > 0:19:27had the names Achilles, Ajax, The Trojan Horse,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30and, as the Roman poet Horace put it two centuries later,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34"captured Greece, captured her uncouth conqueror
0:19:34 > 0:19:37"and brought the arts to rustic Latinum."
0:19:37 > 0:19:41But it was never going to be such a straightforward story
0:19:41 > 0:19:44of Roman indebtedness to Greece.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Livius Andronicus marks the very beginning of Roman engagement
0:19:47 > 0:19:49with Greece and Greek literature,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53and the key thing is that his plays are in Latin.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Unlike other Mediterranean communities,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02the Romans didn't just import Greek theatre whole.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04They adapted elements of Greek drama
0:20:04 > 0:20:09but they created their own new plays, from scratch, in Latin.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Sadly, very little of what was written has survived,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and what HAS is comedy.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18The first author whose plays survive to us in full
0:20:18 > 0:20:22is an ex-stagehand from Umbria called Plautus.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Now, all his comedies were based on the Greek model,
0:20:24 > 0:20:25that of Menander.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29In 1968, a papyrus was found with a play of Menander on one side
0:20:29 > 0:20:31and a play of Plautus directly opposite.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35And all of Plautus's plays are set in Greece, usually in Athens,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and there's lots of Greek borrowings into the Latin.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41But all of this is not because Plautus thought
0:20:41 > 0:20:44the Greeks and Greece were wonderful -
0:20:44 > 0:20:46it's because he thought they were funny.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Plautus' comedy is full of ridicule for Greece.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55His plays are lewd and bawdy,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58and comedies like The Ghost show stupid Greek citizens
0:20:58 > 0:21:01being outwitted by their scheming slaves.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06In Plautus' play The Ghost, Philolaches is a no-good son,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09who is having fun while his dad is away.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Their slave, Tranio, is helping out.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14But when the dad suddenly returns, Philolaches panics,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and it's up to Tranio to save the day.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20With his father out of town,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24Philolaches does what any young man would do and throws a house party.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29He has also borrowed money to free his favourite slave girl.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The drinking is in full flow when his father returns.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36But Tranio moves fast. He locks the revellers in the house
0:21:36 > 0:21:39and tells Philolaches' father that the house is haunted.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Through his quick thinking,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44he buys enough time for the revellers to escape
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and for the money Philolaches owes to be repaid.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Now, that's a pretty similar plot
0:21:51 > 0:21:54to Menander's Woman Of Samos, for example.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Somebody leaves, things happen in their absence
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and chaos ensues when they return.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04But what's different here is it's now the Greeks who are the fools.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07It's the slave who saves the day.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Plautus has completely turned the tables
0:22:10 > 0:22:12about who has the last laugh.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17The fact that the Romans were watching plays about Greeks,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19and were laughing at Greeks,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21has given scholars an interesting insight
0:22:21 > 0:22:25into both the ambitions and boundaries of Roman society.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26You have a situation
0:22:26 > 0:22:32where you have ostensibly Greek characters, living in Athens,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35expressing the ambition to Greek it up, or live like Greeks,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and one of the things that that is reflecting
0:22:38 > 0:22:42is the Roman obsession with Greek luxury
0:22:42 > 0:22:47as a form of wish fulfilment, so it reflects the way
0:22:47 > 0:22:49that also Roman society is becoming more Greek
0:22:49 > 0:22:53and more luxurious. This is an idealised form of Hellenism
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and it's also, in some ways, a very comic form of Hellenism
0:22:56 > 0:23:03that is about as Greek as the version of Germany and France in 'Allo 'Allo
0:23:03 > 0:23:05is either French or German.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09But it's interesting, isn't it, what Greeks are NOT in Roman comedy?
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Greeks are not dynamic, macho, heroic figures, are they?
0:23:11 > 0:23:14They're generally sort of foppish,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17aristocratic, rather clueless figures.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22There is obviously more general freedom allowed to the poet
0:23:22 > 0:23:23in the characterisation,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25if they're dealing with Greek characters.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27You can have relationships
0:23:27 > 0:23:31that you don't have in Rome, you have slaves doing things
0:23:31 > 0:23:33that would not be allowed in Rome.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36One of the things about comedy set in Ancient Athens, Aristophanes,
0:23:36 > 0:23:42is it pokes very bitter, pointed fun at Athenians in the audience.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Could the Romans laugh at themselves in the same way
0:23:45 > 0:23:48that we understand the Greeks to have been laughing at themselves?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51You do get references to Romans in Roman comedy.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53For example, there's a line where a character is said
0:23:53 > 0:23:56to be smellier than a group of Roman rowers.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58So, yeah, you do get this mockery of Romans,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02but it's always displaced into the mouths of non-Romans
0:24:02 > 0:24:04mocking Romans for being barbarians.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08As the Romans took over the domestic form of comedy,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13there is no direct political jokes as we have in Greek old comedy,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17where politicians are more or less directly named and portrayed.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21One of Plautus's great contemporaries and predecessors, Naevius,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26actually ended up getting banged up in prison under a libel law,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30specifically for having made jokes at the family of the Metelli,
0:24:30 > 0:24:36and therefore the type of humour about families or individuals
0:24:36 > 0:24:39that Aristophanes was able to indulge in
0:24:39 > 0:24:43is very much impossible for a comic writer such as Plautus.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Mocking political leaders on the stage had been fine in Athens
0:24:49 > 0:24:52because it was a way of keeping the democracy in check.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57But Rome was ruled by powerful aristocrats,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and mocking them would have been a difficult and dangerous game.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04For the authorities in Rome,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06controlling the story was paramount,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and this helped to give birth to a new kind of drama -
0:25:09 > 0:25:11a drama that is reflected
0:25:11 > 0:25:14in the spectacular monuments to Roman history
0:25:14 > 0:25:15that still litter the city.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18One of the most famous structures of this kind
0:25:18 > 0:25:20comes from the time of the Roman Empire.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22It's called Trajan's Column.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25This is one of the most famous landmarks in Rome today,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29known because of the way it tells a visual historical narrative
0:25:29 > 0:25:31spiralling up the column,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35that of Emperor Trajan's military campaigns.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37But this interest in telling stories, historical narrative,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40goes right back to the roots of Roman culture.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42And in the 3rd century BC,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44the Romans actually created their own form of drama,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48that mixed tragedy with reality, with historical narrative -
0:25:48 > 0:25:52telling the stories of some of their most famous adventurers.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59The Romans had adapted tragedy
0:25:59 > 0:26:02into what would become a new theatrical genre -
0:26:02 > 0:26:04the history play.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08And one such play commemorated a man who played an important role
0:26:08 > 0:26:10in the subjugation of Greece.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12In the 2nd century BC,
0:26:12 > 0:26:17the Romans set about conquering the Greek mainland, and in 168 BC,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Lucius Aemilius Paullus won an epic victory.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22This spectacular 18th-century painting
0:26:22 > 0:26:26shows him returning to Rome and showing off his Greek prisoners
0:26:26 > 0:26:29in a lavish triumph ceremony.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31But the commemorations didn't end there.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34As part of his victory triumph,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36following the subjugation of the Greeks,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Aemilius Paullus commissioned a historical narrative drama,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42and its title was Paullus,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and it told the story of Paullus's triumphant campaign.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48He clearly agreed with the Roman maxim
0:26:48 > 0:26:52that virtue deserves praise. And was it any good?
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Well, the problem is, we've only got four lines surviving.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02One describes, we think, the march of the Romans to Olympus.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Another is a snatch of prayer before a battle.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10The third is a line about spears flying,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and the fourth quotes an unlucky Roman calling for help.
0:27:14 > 0:27:15And that's it.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19We can tell that the author Pacuvius's Latin
0:27:19 > 0:27:21is both elegant and educated.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23But if his other plays are any guide,
0:27:23 > 0:27:24it's likely that this one ended
0:27:24 > 0:27:27not with a question for the audience to consider
0:27:27 > 0:27:30or a moral dilemma for them to wrestle with,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34but with a sense of a world restored from disorder -
0:27:34 > 0:27:36a triumph.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39This kind of play was very different from Greek tragedy,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41but the development of this new drama
0:27:41 > 0:27:44is one of Roman theatre's greatest legacies.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Part of the problem in Greece, in Athens,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51when they're experimenting with tragedy
0:27:51 > 0:27:54at the beginning of the 5th century, is that actually,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57these history plays can be a bit close to the bone.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00There's an example of a playwright who actually gets fined
0:28:00 > 0:28:04because of doing a tragedy on recent history
0:28:04 > 0:28:05and getting it wrong.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07He makes the audience feel terrible
0:28:07 > 0:28:11about how they didn't help out their allies and they don't like it.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14So they fine it and that play is never performed again.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15With the Romans,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18I think there's something slightly different going on with it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22They really want to commemorate their victories
0:28:22 > 0:28:25and actually, by doing this culturally,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27this is part of conquest -
0:28:27 > 0:28:32you're saying, "Look what we've done, we've got this, this is our genre
0:28:32 > 0:28:35"and we're celebrating our own victories through it."
0:28:35 > 0:28:37You have to think about performances
0:28:37 > 0:28:41in the context of all the other performances that are going on -
0:28:41 > 0:28:44triumphal processions, gladiatorial spectacles
0:28:44 > 0:28:48where you're literally bringing everything to Rome
0:28:48 > 0:28:50to show off about your conquest,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52and this is really an extension of that.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59By 150 BC, Roman theatre had come of age
0:28:59 > 0:29:02in the service of Rome's governing elite.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06It had its own political dynamic and purpose.
0:29:07 > 0:29:08And it included writers
0:29:08 > 0:29:11who have entered the canon of Western literature -
0:29:11 > 0:29:14writers like Plautus, and even more so, Terence.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Terence is a classic case.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21He was a foreigner, brought to Rome as a slave from Carthage,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Rome's deadliest enemy,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26and yet went on to become a famous writer of Roman comedy
0:29:26 > 0:29:29that was performed on temporary stages all over the city.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32The most famous is right behind me here on the Palatine,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35in front of the temple of Magna Mater.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Now, Terence used Greek models for his comedies
0:29:37 > 0:29:40but his Latin was so pure, so sophisticated,
0:29:40 > 0:29:41that in later generations,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44he became the textbook from which to learn the language.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47One person said, "Good morals, good taste,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49"good Latin, as Terence has."
0:29:49 > 0:29:52So this is no longer Roman comedy
0:29:52 > 0:29:55borrowing, begging, stealing Greek models -
0:29:55 > 0:29:58this is Roman comedy standing on its own two feet,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02confident in its own Roman-ness, its "Romanitas."
0:30:06 > 0:30:09This Roman confidence was evident
0:30:09 > 0:30:12when Roman soldiers returned to Athens many years later,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16in 87 BC, to put down a revolt.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The general leading the Roman forces was called Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22He laid siege to Athens
0:30:22 > 0:30:25and, despite the city's impressive cultural reputation,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27he showed no mercy.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31He used wood from sacred groves, he plundered temples,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33and when Athens finally fell,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36the slaughter was said to be so great
0:30:36 > 0:30:38that the streets were flowing with blood.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40BATTLE CRIES ECHO
0:30:40 > 0:30:44Sulla was not just the man who had captured Athens for Rome.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48He was also the epitome of a breed of Roman
0:30:48 > 0:30:51who was fully immersed in Greek culture,
0:30:51 > 0:30:52yet not overawed by it.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54When he captured Athens,
0:30:54 > 0:30:57he is said to have quoted one of Athens's own playwright's lines
0:30:57 > 0:30:59right back at them.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02It was a line from Aristophanes' play, The Frogs.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05"First learn to row, before you can steer."
0:31:05 > 0:31:09And in that one line, Sulla had brilliantly taken
0:31:09 > 0:31:11two of Athens's most treasured accomplishments
0:31:11 > 0:31:12in all of its history -
0:31:12 > 0:31:16the theatre and their supremacy at sea with the fleet -
0:31:16 > 0:31:20and combined them into one of history's most sarcastic put-downs.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25The Athenians were forced to eat their own humble pie.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Ouch!
0:31:29 > 0:31:32The Romans had succeeded in making drama their own,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36but it didn't play the same role or have the same status
0:31:36 > 0:31:38that it had had in Greece.
0:31:38 > 0:31:39I want to find out more
0:31:39 > 0:31:42about the differences between these two societies.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And I think that the different designs of their theatres
0:31:45 > 0:31:47could be a good place to start.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50The Ancient Greek world was littered with monumental theatres,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52many of which survive to this day,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55evidence of Greek architectural skill and ambition.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01To harness and contain the emotional power of their plays,
0:32:01 > 0:32:05the Greeks had developed very special places for performance.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Their theatres were open spaces, easy to get into and out of,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and usually with views over the stage
0:32:11 > 0:32:13to the landscape beyond.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17They were part of the landscape and part of the community,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19both religious and political.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21This theatre at Epidaurus
0:32:21 > 0:32:24is probably the most perfect example to survive.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Even today, visitors here respond.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32There's something I notice every time I come to this theatre.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34And that's whatever nationality, whatever language,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37whether you're a show-off or a recluse,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42everyone is drawn to the very centre of the stage.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43Now, partly I think that's to do
0:32:43 > 0:32:46with the visual sightlines of the theatre all meeting here
0:32:46 > 0:32:47and the perfect acoustics
0:32:47 > 0:32:50which make this such an extraordinary experience.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55But...I think there is an honesty and a nakedness
0:32:55 > 0:32:58to the design of the Greek theatre and its stage
0:32:58 > 0:33:01that allows the audience to empathise more easily
0:33:01 > 0:33:03with the performers.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07And as a result, the very design of the Greek theatre
0:33:07 > 0:33:11builds on what all the religious rituals that happened beforehand
0:33:11 > 0:33:13were trying to do - to eliminate the gap
0:33:13 > 0:33:15between them in the audience and us on the stage,
0:33:15 > 0:33:20to create not two different entities, but one body.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26This same design was used all over the Greek world.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31But in Rome, theatres were very different indeed.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34To begin with, there was no permanent accepted venue.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Terence and other writers
0:33:36 > 0:33:38had to perform their plays on temporary stages,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41in places like the Forum or in a sanctuary,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45or here in the Circus Maximus, more usually used for chariot races.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47Reconstructions by modern scholars,
0:33:47 > 0:33:51following ancient depictions like that in the house of Livia in Rome,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55revealed that these structures could be very lavish indeed.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59But I want to know what their temporary nature tells us
0:33:59 > 0:34:02about the role of theatre in Roman society.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08You can see temporariness as a form of popular control.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12The senate pays for the dramatic festival every year,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14someone pays to have the stage put up.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17If it isn't there permanently,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20one of the threats is, "Well, if you don't behave yourself,
0:34:20 > 0:34:22"it won't be here next year."
0:34:22 > 0:34:23One other way in which you can measure
0:34:23 > 0:34:26the value of theatre and theatrical production in Rome
0:34:26 > 0:34:28is to think about the status of actors.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30In the Greek world, they're relatively high-status,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34we know there's this guild of actors, the Artists of Dionysus.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36In the Roman world, they're "infames",
0:34:36 > 0:34:38they're the lowest of the low -
0:34:38 > 0:34:41that's basically what being an infames means.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43But then we also get these very strange arguments
0:34:43 > 0:34:46about the morally corrupting nature of sitting down at the theatre.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50What was the morally corrupt aspect of sitting down?
0:34:50 > 0:34:54I think the Greeks conducted their assemblies while sitting down
0:34:54 > 0:34:58and the Romans didn't, so you were more virtuous and strong.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01The funny thing is that the Greek word for civil strife, "stasus",
0:35:01 > 0:35:03seems to be associated with ideas of standing up,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06whereas the Roman word for civil strife, "sedition",
0:35:06 > 0:35:08is actually connected with ideas of sitting down,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10and therefore sitting in the theatre
0:35:10 > 0:35:12might be a dubious and morally damaging activity.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Roman theatres reflect the aristocratic nature
0:35:17 > 0:35:20of Roman society, and unlike Greek theatres,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23which encouraged the audience to explore their emotions,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26they betray a sense of social unease.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Eventually permanent theatres were constructed in Rome,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34but these too were different from the Greek style.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38As the Roman republic grew,
0:35:38 > 0:35:42it fell into the hands of rival politician warlords -
0:35:42 > 0:35:44men like Sulla, the subjugator of Athens,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47and Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50And the competition between these men
0:35:50 > 0:35:54helped to drive the construction of permanent theatres in Rome.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58In 55 BC, while Julius Caesar was raiding in Britain,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00his rival, Pompey the Great,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04dedicated the first purpose-built theatre in Rome.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08It still exists, but as a ghost in the Roman street plan.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10So, Ed, where are we now?
0:36:10 > 0:36:12We are in the heart of medieval Rome,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14and the great thing about medieval street plans
0:36:14 > 0:36:18is they exploit pre-existing structures
0:36:18 > 0:36:22and they fossilise the previous urban texture,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25and where we are right now, we're in the Theatre of Pompey.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29So the curvature of this entire street here
0:36:29 > 0:36:31is following the line of the Theatre of Pompey?
0:36:31 > 0:36:33It follows the internal line of the theatre.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35So if you imagine the edge of the orchestra,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37this is the curve of the orchestra.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40- So this is the stage right here? - You'd be looking at the stage.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42The good thing about the height of this building
0:36:42 > 0:36:46is it allows you to imagine really well the height of the stage,
0:36:46 > 0:36:53its enormous, highly sculpted, elaborate stage facade.
0:36:53 > 0:36:54And on this side,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57this is the beginning of the spectators' seating?
0:36:57 > 0:36:59This is the curve of the seats, yes,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01so we would imagine, from pretty much where we are,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04the seats running up, up and up.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06But again, look at the size of that thing,
0:37:06 > 0:37:07the scale, the elevation -
0:37:07 > 0:37:10it gives you an idea of what a monster this thing was,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13a cauldron of sound and noise, atmosphere.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Pompey's monster marked a new epoch for theatre.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23This reconstruction, based on the work of the architect Luigi Cannina,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25reveals its scale and ambition.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28It could hold up to 40,000 spectators,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30even more than Greek theatres like Epidaurus.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33And it was a very different kind of building.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35It was completely enclosed.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Behind the 100-metre stage
0:37:38 > 0:37:43rose a lavishly decorated scene building, three storeys high,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45and the whole thing was part of a walled complex
0:37:45 > 0:37:49which included a park and a new building for the Senate.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53I mean, this was an unmistakable and unmissable marker
0:37:53 > 0:37:55on the city plan of Rome, wasn't it?
0:37:55 > 0:37:58It's the biggest thing that's been built in the city up to this point.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Staking ownership and dominance over the entire place.
0:38:01 > 0:38:07Yes, it's a fantastically daring piece of victory building.
0:38:11 > 0:38:12This kind of theatre design
0:38:12 > 0:38:16reflected the hierarchical nature of the Roman world,
0:38:16 > 0:38:21a world that soon went from being a republic to being an empire.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23This theatre, the theatre of Marcellus,
0:38:23 > 0:38:25was built by an Emperor, the Emperor Augustus.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30It's a structure that still evokes a sense of power, order and control.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Where you had once enjoyed theatre in a public open space,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39this was a permanently enclosed building.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45And unlike Greek theatres, where people arrived all together,
0:38:45 > 0:38:48at this theatre, people entered through a large number
0:38:48 > 0:38:50of separate, narrow entrances,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53because Roman leaders had a fear of large crowds.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58After that, stairways took you into different levels of the theatre
0:38:58 > 0:39:01which were assigned to people of different social classes.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Senators in the best seats and the plebs at the top.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08In the Greek world,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12theatre was an inherently open, socially risky process,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14but here in the Roman world,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16the risk just isn't part of the calculation.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20This became the archetypal model for Roman theatres
0:39:20 > 0:39:22spreading across the Mediterranean.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25It didn't just keep people in order in their seats.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27The stuff that was being put on the stage
0:39:27 > 0:39:30was also increasingly anodyne as well.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32And at the end of the day, that was all due to the man
0:39:32 > 0:39:35who was responsible for pretty much everything we can see here -
0:39:35 > 0:39:40the Emperor Augustus and his plan for peace and harmony.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47Augustus' reign as emperor
0:39:47 > 0:39:52marked the start of an unprecedented period of stability in Rome.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54And this ordered, harmonious climate
0:39:54 > 0:39:57would ultimately give birth to a new kind of drama.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Long ago, the Greek poets had spoken of an age of gold,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06an age of peace and harmony.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11And now, after the long and vicious years of civil war
0:40:11 > 0:40:14that had torn the Roman world in two,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Augustus promised a new age of peace.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21His poets sang of it, and most importantly,
0:40:21 > 0:40:26he celebrated it here in marble at the Altar of Peace.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35It's called the Ara Pacis Augustae, the Altar of Augustan Peace.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39It is perhaps the most spectacular example
0:40:39 > 0:40:41of Roman sculpture in the world.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44And it all has a political message.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47It's an altar on which sacrifices would be made
0:40:47 > 0:40:49to the goddess of peace.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53The garlands around it indicate the prosperity
0:40:53 > 0:40:55which will hopefully result.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57On the end walls,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00mythological scenes depict the new golden age
0:41:00 > 0:41:03which will come with Augustus's peace.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07And on the sides, we meet the people who have brought it about -
0:41:07 > 0:41:11Augustus and his entourage, not forgetting the Roman people.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15The whole building mirrors the content of Roman plays -
0:41:15 > 0:41:18a combination of history and mythology
0:41:18 > 0:41:20with a heavy dose of propaganda.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Peace had never much been worshipped in Rome before this,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27but now Augustus put it at the very heart of his message for Rome
0:41:27 > 0:41:29and for her empire.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33And the delicate subtlety of the carving on this building
0:41:33 > 0:41:36belies the brick-in-the-face message it contained.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39This was to be a world of peace, but also a world
0:41:39 > 0:41:44in which every element, every part of Rome's empire was united -
0:41:44 > 0:41:48united UNDER the power of Rome.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52This was to be a place, and a world,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54unlike any that had been seen before.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02This united, pacified world gave birth to a new kind of play -
0:42:02 > 0:42:05one that could cross linguistic and cultural boundaries.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08It was called pantomime.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10But it was not pantomime as we know it.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Augustan pantomimes were mythically fraught episodes
0:42:15 > 0:42:18communicated through mute dancing.
0:42:18 > 0:42:19All the action was handled
0:42:19 > 0:42:22by a solo dancer performing all the parts,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24changing masks as he went on,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26hence the word "panto" - "every",
0:42:26 > 0:42:28"mime" - "part".
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Alessandra Zanobi is both a scholar and a dancer.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38I think the closest comparison we can make
0:42:38 > 0:42:41is with Katakhali dance,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43which is this Indian dance drama.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47In a way, I think it's the thing which comes closest
0:42:47 > 0:42:48to ancient pantomime,
0:42:48 > 0:42:53even if the two traditions are so different, you know?
0:42:53 > 0:42:57But this combination of story, words, gestures, movement,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59it's something so special,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02that not even opera maybe could be compared.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07There is a story sometimes, but the story is really inferred
0:43:07 > 0:43:10just from the movements.
0:43:10 > 0:43:11So we're talking about...
0:43:11 > 0:43:13The dancer would be would be mute,
0:43:13 > 0:43:17but there would be a storyteller alongside, is that right?
0:43:17 > 0:43:21Basically the dancer was mute, he wore a mask,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23a beautiful mask with a closed mouth,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28and he would be backed by a choir or a singer
0:43:28 > 0:43:32who were singing the words of the story,
0:43:32 > 0:43:37and then a large orchestra usually used to accompany the dance.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40You can imagine the impact must have been really powerful.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43- It's quite a spectacle. - Yeah, a big spectacle.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So, obviously, using gesture and dance,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50it makes pantomime a very universal medium.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52To what extent, really, was it a universal medium
0:43:52 > 0:43:57and to what extent was it so popular in Augustan Rome and beyond
0:43:57 > 0:43:59BECAUSE it was a universal medium?
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Yes, I think that...
0:44:01 > 0:44:02Yes, this is a very good point.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05I mean, it was so popular
0:44:05 > 0:44:07and I think that Augustus, in a way,
0:44:07 > 0:44:13supported it because it could cross linguistic boundaries
0:44:13 > 0:44:18and ethnic boundaries as well,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22and so it embodied, in a way,
0:44:22 > 0:44:27Augustus's ideology of a world pacified and united under his reign.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Pantomime was something that could be enjoyed by everyone,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35and as a result, it was a fantastic symbol
0:44:35 > 0:44:38for the Augustan cultural programme -
0:44:38 > 0:44:40uniformity for all.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43It's also a sign of a shift away from serious drama
0:44:43 > 0:44:46towards mass entertainment.
0:44:46 > 0:44:47In Ancient Rome,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51theatre had always had to compete directly with other entertainments -
0:44:51 > 0:44:54spectacles like gladiatorial combats.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55The playwright Terence complained
0:44:55 > 0:44:58that on one occasion, half the audience left
0:44:58 > 0:45:01when they heard that a rope-dancer was performing next door.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Now, in the age of Empire, lavish public entertainments
0:45:05 > 0:45:09were used to augment the power and status of the emperors,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and the desire for this kind of spectacle increased.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Over time, new amphitheatres like the Colosseum
0:45:26 > 0:45:29would not only dwarf even Pompey's great theatre,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33but would also be dedicated to real - not stage - violence,
0:45:33 > 0:45:38bloodily performed before audiences of up to 50,000 at a time.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42With spectacles like this to see, performances of plays would dwindle
0:45:42 > 0:45:46and drama would become more of a writers' medium.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49But not before Latin drama had one last hurrah
0:45:49 > 0:45:51in the reign of Emperor Nero.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57Nero today is not remembered for many good things.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01But from our perspective, he was not only a Hellenophile,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04a man who had visited Greece, competed in the Olympic Games,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07he was also a lover of the arts.
0:46:07 > 0:46:08Cultural life during his reign
0:46:08 > 0:46:11was thought to be extremely important, and flourished.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Indeed, it's Nero's time
0:46:13 > 0:46:17that sees one of the last real flowerings of Latin literature.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25These included a number of plays written by Nero's tutor, Seneca.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Seneca wrote nine tragedies,
0:46:27 > 0:46:29which retold stories from Greek myth.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34Thyestes was one of Seneca's Greek-style tragedies,
0:46:34 > 0:46:36and comparing it to an original Greek tragedy
0:46:36 > 0:46:41gives us a fascinating insight into just how far drama had come,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44and into the differences between the two great cultures
0:46:44 > 0:46:46of Greece and Rome.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49The twin brothers Atreus and Thyestes
0:46:49 > 0:46:52are rivals for the throne of Mycenae.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56Thyestes has been banished after seducing Atreus' wife,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58and Atreus, thrown into a violent rage,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01concocts a cruel and bloody revenge.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03He lures Thyestes back to the kingdom
0:47:03 > 0:47:06with false promises of peace.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Then he brutally sacrifices Thyestes' children.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12With his own hands he cuts the body into parts...
0:47:18 > 0:47:20His terrible vengeance
0:47:20 > 0:47:24culminates with him feeding Thyestes his dead children for dinner.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31With Seneca, what you get is a lot more rhetoric,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35so you get longer speeches - and this is part of the argument
0:47:35 > 0:47:40that perhaps these were actually recited rather than performed.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Some of these descriptions, particularly messenger speeches,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46where you're reporting something that took place off stage,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48some of these are very graphic.
0:47:48 > 0:47:54So I'll read you a bit from the messenger speech in the play,
0:47:54 > 0:47:58and this is where Atreus is sacrificing his nephews.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03"Torn from the still living breasts, the vitals quiver,
0:48:03 > 0:48:09"the lungs still breathe and the fluttering heart still beats.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12"But he handles the organs and enquires the fates
0:48:12 > 0:48:16"and notes the markings of the still warm entrails."
0:48:16 > 0:48:20And to what extent do you think that sense of gore
0:48:20 > 0:48:24responded to the types of things Romans would see about them
0:48:24 > 0:48:25on a fairly daily basis?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27I think you have had this cultural shift,
0:48:27 > 0:48:32and I think if we think about spectacles like gladiatorial shows
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and understand this as entertainment,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40then that really perhaps helps us to understand what's going on
0:48:40 > 0:48:41with these descriptions.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47The plain fact of the matter is
0:48:47 > 0:48:50that however influential Seneca's plays may have been,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52they were probably rarely performed.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55And that meant their influence was confined to the written page.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58They'd lost that sense of mass participation
0:48:58 > 0:49:00and political dynamism that accompanied theatre
0:49:00 > 0:49:03back at its very inception.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05And that raises a fundamental question -
0:49:05 > 0:49:08in this brave new world,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11what happened to drama and theatre back in its birthplace,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13in Greece, in Athens,
0:49:13 > 0:49:17particularly now that power was held not in the hands of many,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19but in the hands of one man?
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Back in Greece, theatre had remained part of public life.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30But there are signs that drama now faced competition
0:49:30 > 0:49:32from Roman spectacular entertainments.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35This is Argos,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38a classic middle-of-the-road Ancient Greek city-state.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40But the impressive Greek theatre here
0:49:40 > 0:49:42was given some very Roman renovations.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50This place vies for the title of the biggest theatre in Greece.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53What we are seeing is not just the centre section,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55there would have been seats going all the way round to the sides,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58making this a space for 20,000 people.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01And it made it the kind of opportunity
0:50:01 > 0:50:03the Romans were never going to pass up on.
0:50:03 > 0:50:04And, by God, they didn't.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08But the best thing they did is over here.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11The Romans didn't just use Greek theatres for drama,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14but also for gladiatorial combat.
0:50:14 > 0:50:15And that led to problems,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17because here, in the first reserved row,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19where religious officials sat,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22gladiators kept falling over and dying on them.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26So the Romans came up with a solution. And here it is.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29These large potholes that run all the way along the front row
0:50:29 > 0:50:33were used for large wooden posts, along which could be strung nets,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37and these nets would keep out not only dying gladiators,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40but also the wild beasts that the Romans brought onto the stage.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42And if you've ever seen a bullfight,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45you'll know how necessary these nets are.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Frankly, I think I'd prefer a seat a couple of rows back.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Now, the man responsible for all this was the emperor Hadrian.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56And he came to Greece in the 120s
0:50:56 > 0:50:58and not only built an enormous aqueduct
0:50:58 > 0:51:01that was able to bring water to this perpetually dry city,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03but as a result, he was able to build
0:51:03 > 0:51:05the massive baths behind me,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07and of course, this theatre here as well.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09Now, Hadrian's family was Italian,
0:51:09 > 0:51:11but had been living in Spain for a long time,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14and yet he was a lover of all things Greek.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17He had a beard, he liked Greek philosophy,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19he had a Greek lover called Antinous,
0:51:19 > 0:51:21and it was here in this theatre
0:51:21 > 0:51:24that he established a cult in his honour.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31Today, we remember Hadrian
0:51:31 > 0:51:34for the great wall that he constructed in Britain,
0:51:34 > 0:51:38but it's his classical enthusiasm that is his greatest legacy.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40And nowhere benefited more than Athens,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44the city which had given birth to theatre half a millennium before.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Hadrian's aim was to restore Athens
0:51:48 > 0:51:51to what he saw as its ancient cultural glory.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56He even managed to finish their gigantic temple of Olympian Zeus,
0:51:56 > 0:51:58started nearly 600 years before.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Hadrian pulled out all the stops for Athens.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05That went from building temples like this,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07to intervening in the olive oil trade,
0:52:07 > 0:52:09to laying down the water pipe system
0:52:09 > 0:52:12that Athens, in part, still depends on today.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16Not for nothing was Hadrian given the title "Graeculus" -
0:52:16 > 0:52:17"the Greekling".
0:52:21 > 0:52:25Hadrian also made improvements to the Theatre of Dionysus.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29Whereas his predecessors had staged gladiator fights in the theatre,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31building a wall in front of the seats
0:52:31 > 0:52:33to separate the action from the spectators,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Hadrian attempted to reinforce its dramatic origins
0:52:37 > 0:52:40by adding an elegant frieze to the stage building.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44A little later, a new theatre was constructed
0:52:44 > 0:52:48by the tutor of Hadrian's children, Herodes Atticus.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Today, this theatre of Herodes Atticus
0:52:56 > 0:52:59is at the epicentre of modern Greek drama in Athens.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02I last saw a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night here,
0:53:02 > 0:53:07in Greek. Plays put on this stage inherit a fascinating tradition
0:53:07 > 0:53:10that stretches back over 2,500 years.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14From the great tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides
0:53:14 > 0:53:17and the sparky comedy of Aristophanes and Menander,
0:53:17 > 0:53:20the plays still speak to the ongoing issues
0:53:20 > 0:53:21that occupy human society.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And it would be nice to think that when this theatre was built,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28it ushered in a whole new era
0:53:28 > 0:53:31of new tragedies and new playwrights,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34a new golden age.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36But sadly, it was not to be.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44There was no new golden age of theatre.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46And perhaps that was inevitable.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49The riches showered on Athens
0:53:49 > 0:53:51were the direct product of Hadrian's patronage.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57When he died, it all began to dry up.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01And in the end, his interest was fundamentally a literary one,
0:54:01 > 0:54:06a love of all those brilliant writers of the past golden age.
0:54:07 > 0:54:08So it's no surprise
0:54:08 > 0:54:12that Hadrian's most spectacular monument here now
0:54:12 > 0:54:14is not a temple or a theatre,
0:54:14 > 0:54:15but a library.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21This is the business end. This is where the books were kept.
0:54:21 > 0:54:27These alcoves once held wooden bookcases for the papyrus scrolls
0:54:27 > 0:54:30not just of poetry, philosophy or state archives,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33but also plays, comedies.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36And with this repository of knowledge,
0:54:36 > 0:54:38the Library of Hadrian here in Athens
0:54:38 > 0:54:41was set to rival the great Library of Alexandria
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and become the intellectual focus for the Mediterranean.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52It was perhaps the most luxurious public building in Athens,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56with gilded ceilings, marble columns imported from Turkey,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59and elegant pools and gardens in the courtyard.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05Revered the great works of Greek literature
0:55:05 > 0:55:07may have been by the Romans,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11but that reverence came intertwined
0:55:11 > 0:55:16with a Roman treatment of Greece a bit like a theme park -
0:55:16 > 0:55:19a place to go and play at being Greek
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and use those great works of literature for debate practice
0:55:23 > 0:55:25or just entertainment.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27And like with any theme park, there came a time when you went home
0:55:27 > 0:55:29and the Romans became fully Roman again.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35And yet, it was because of that curious mix
0:55:35 > 0:55:40of reverence, make-believe and a little bit of tackiness
0:55:40 > 0:55:45that the tragedies and comedies of Ancient Greece survive for us today.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52I'm returning to what has become my home from home,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54the British School of Athens.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57It's the nerve centre of British archaeology in Greece,
0:55:57 > 0:56:01and it was here I decided not just to study Ancient Greece,
0:56:01 > 0:56:02but to make it into my career.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06And one of the reasons for my decision
0:56:06 > 0:56:10was my fascination with the plays to be found on its shelves.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13For more than two millennia,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16it's thanks to the innumerable anonymous hands
0:56:16 > 0:56:19writing on I don't know how many different types of paper
0:56:19 > 0:56:22in locations littered across the globe
0:56:22 > 0:56:26that we still have surviving in our hands today these plays,
0:56:26 > 0:56:30these extraordinary examples of human creativity.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35And yet it's not until you take the words off the page
0:56:35 > 0:56:38and put them on the stage that you realise
0:56:38 > 0:56:41not only the incredible emotional impact and innovation
0:56:41 > 0:56:43that theatre represented in the ancient world,
0:56:43 > 0:56:46but also how crucial theatre was
0:56:46 > 0:56:48to the story of the Greek and Roman empires.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01Ancient Greek drama began as an astonishing innovation
0:57:01 > 0:57:03in a revolutionary world.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06It guided and shaped democracy in Athens
0:57:06 > 0:57:09and became extraordinarily popular
0:57:09 > 0:57:11throughout the Greek world and beyond.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16And when the Romans arrived, Greek theatre wasn't lost.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20It was adopted and adapted for the new Roman world,
0:57:20 > 0:57:22but most importantly, it was preserved.
0:57:25 > 0:57:26The influence of Menander,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29and of Roman playwrights like Plautus and Terence
0:57:29 > 0:57:32can be seen in the works of Shakespeare, Ben Johnson
0:57:32 > 0:57:33and Oscar Wilde,
0:57:33 > 0:57:37not to mention in modern dramas, romantic comedies and in sitcoms.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39But more than that,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43we still stage epic performances of the original plays themselves -
0:57:43 > 0:57:45a truly astonishing outcome
0:57:45 > 0:57:48when we consider that the oldest surviving Ancient Greek drama
0:57:48 > 0:57:52is now 2,500 years old.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54These plays still speak to us today.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58They reveal the fundamental contradictions,
0:57:58 > 0:58:01emotions and possibilities
0:58:01 > 0:58:05that are represented in human existence.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08And that, for me, means that they are going to be around with us
0:58:08 > 0:58:10for a long time to come.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22Join The Open University as we explore
0:58:22 > 0:58:25the connections between Greek theatre and modern-day democracy.
0:58:25 > 0:58:29Go to bbc.co.uk/ancientgreece and follow the links
0:58:29 > 0:58:32to The Open University's free learning website.
0:58:52 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd