The Sententiae of Publilius Syrus (or Publius Syrus) were very famous in the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance world. But unlike most surviving texts, they are not the work of a philosopher, a statesman, or a poet.
They are the punchlines of a Syrian ex-slave, who ran an improv troupe in the time of Julius Caesar.
Roman improv was called “mime”, and it seems to have been one of those weird native Roman things. It wasn’t silent. There was a lead actor (okay, mime) and several others, and there could be a real storyline or just gags. Also, female parts could be played by women (though often they were prostitutes on the side and it wasn’t a respectable career), masks weren’t used, and the settings were usually related to contemporary life. (Hence “mime”, because it imitated life.) It seems to have been a lot like commedia del’ arte, really, often leading up to punchlines or emotional moments composed in advance. A lot of funny grimacing seems to have been involved, and a lot of obscenity and “earthy humor”. Any improv mime in the troupe who was caught without a comeback left the stage, and performances ended when the lead mime ran away.
Syrus was captured in Syria (hence the name) and brought back by a young officer, who ended up giving him to his patron when Syrus smarted off with a clever line in the patron’s presence. Syrus continued to be funny as well as clever and useful, and was eventually freed. He founded an improv troupe with some support from his ex-master, and seems to have been a quick and long-lasting success with pretty much everybody in Rome, from nobles to the poor. He apparently revolutionized the mime form, making it more expressive while still staying funny. St. Jerome, centuries later, called him “master of the stage.”
Here’s a post from Roger Pearse, pointing you to both the Latin edition from Cambridge, and the Cleveland, Ohio translation into English by D. Lyman Jr., M.A. Originally the punchlines were arranged alphabetically, but over the centuries, the various collections were rearranged however the editor felt like.
These are pretty good proverbs, wisdom, and jokes, and they wear pretty well. Check it out.
Oh, and here’s a Roman comedy text that scholars think might be an example of a mime.
Of course, just to make things “better”, it seems that later on in imperial times, mime plays were turned into reality shows in order to gain political support for their sponsors, as real criminals were really executed in place of having actors play dead. So yeah, there are valid reasons that your early Christians were not big fans of classical forms of theatre. Ahem.
Aliens in This World 