|
Publius Terentius Afer (; c. 195/185 – c. 159? BC), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on, impressed by his abilities, freed him. Terence apparently died young, probably in Greece or on his way back to Rome. All of the six plays Terence wrote have survived. One famous quotation by Terence reads: "''Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto''", or "I am human, and nothing of that which is human is alien to me." This appeared in his play ''Heauton Timorumenos''. == Biography == Terence's date of birth is disputed; Aelius Donatus, in his incomplete ''Commentum Terenti'', considers the year 185 BC to be the year Terentius was born;〔''Aeli Donati Commentum Terenti, accedunt Eugraphi Commentum et Scholia Bembina'', ed. Paul Wessner, 3 Volumes, Leipzig, 1902, 1905, 1908.〕 Fenestella, on the other hand, states that he was born ten years earlier, in 195 BC.〔G. D' Anna, ''Sulla vita suetoniana di Terenzio'', RIL, 1956, pp. 31-46, 89-90.〕 He may have been born in or near Carthage or in Greek Italy to a woman taken to Carthage as a slave. Terence's cognomen ''Afer'' suggests he lived in the territory of the Libyan tribe called by the Romans Afri near Carthage prior to being brought to Rome as a slave.〔Tenney Frank, "On Suetonius' Life of Terence." ''The American Journal of Philology'', Vol. 54, No. 3 (1933), pp. 269-273.〕 This inference is based on the fact that the term was used in two different ways during the republican era: during Terence's lifetime, it was used to refer to non-Carthaginian Libyco-Berbers, with the term ''Punicus'' reserved for the Carthaginians.〔H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature'', 1954.〕 Later, after the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, it was used to refer to anyone from the land of the Afri (Tunisia and its surroundings). It is therefore most likely that Terence was of Libyan〔Michael von Albrecht, ''Geschichte der römischen Literatur'', Volume 1, Bern, 1992.〕 descent, considered ancestors to the modern-day Berber peoples.〔"...the playwright Terence, who reached rome as the slave of a senator in the second century BC, was a Berber", Suzan Raven, ''Rome in Africa'', Routledge, 1993, p.122; ISBN 0-415-08150-5.〕 In any case, he was sold to P. Terentius Lucanus,〔Smith, William (editor); ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', ("Lucanus, Terentius" ), Boston, 1870.〕 a Roman senator, who educated him and later on, impressed by Terence's abilities, freed him. Terence then took the ''nomen'' "Terentius," which is the origin of the present form. He was a member of the so-called Scipionic Circle. When he was 25, Terence travelled to Greece and never returned. It is mostly believed that Terence died during the journey, but such claim cannot be confirmed. Before his disappereance he exhibited six comedies which are still in existence. According to some ancient writers, he died at sea. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Terence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|