O mundo do teatro em Plínio-o-Antigo

Abstract

Pliny the Elder's Natural History is known as an inexhaustible source of information on Antiquity and has been approached as such in the approximately four thousand articles of currently available bibliography. However, its testimonies on the world of theatre haven't yet been dealt with systematically as I have sought to do.
The numerous passages analysed comprise multiple aspects of ancient dramaturgy, the art of performance, the architecture and decoration of the theatrical space, the political and social function of the ludi scaenici and all aspects connected with them.
In its variety and eclectic framing, these references, some of them dictated by the predilection of the time to tell mirablilia or remarkable deeds, explicit in the recurrence of the formulas primus and primum, show that the Naturalist possessed deep knowledge and was thrilled by the world of theatre and that, in his time, theatre remained an important reference of civilisation in Rome.