New Approaches to Theatre in Ancient Italy

Under contract with LUP

Publication Dec. 2027

The first interdisciplinary study of theatrical entertainment in Republican Italy, drawing together perspectives from archaeology, classical philology, art history, and performance studies. It challenges Rome-centric narratives of cultural development in Italy and highlights the pan-Mediterranean traditions, Greek influences, and independent cultural networks which created a unique, innovative theatrical culture.

Contents:

Introduction
Jessica Clarke (Institute of Classical Studies)

Mainstream Greek theatre in Italy from the fifth to mid-third centuries BCE
Eric Csapo (University of Warwick)

Utinam exstarent: Storytelling in pre-literary central Italy
Didier Natalzi Baldi (University of Oxford)

Rethinking the Oscan background of Atellan Farce
Joanna Pieczonka (University of Wroclaw)

Gioiosa Ionica and the beginnings of an Italian tradition
Jessica Clarke (Institute of Classical Studies)

Etruscan Performance Traditions and their Influences
Alessandra Coen (University of Urbino)

Italian Theatre and the Presence of Rome
T. P. Wiseman (University of Exeter)

The theatre of the Sanctuary of Juno at Gabii and its urban context
Steve Glisoni (Institute of Preventive Archaeology, France)

The sanctuary at Pietravariano and the origins of the so-called theatre-temple
Gianluca Tagliamento (University of Salento)

An Italian synthesis: Innovation and tradition in Republican theatre design
Valentina di Napoli (University of Patras)

Theatre-building in southern Italy: Patronage and civic identity
Kathryn Lomas (University of Durham)

The central peripheries of Plautus’ geographical jokes
Hans Bork (Stanford University)

Theatrical life in the Vesuvian towns
Richard Beacham (King’s College London)

Genius Loci: The space of performance and performance of space in Republican Italy
Mac Carley (Duke University)

Theatrical terracottas in Magna Graecia and Sicily: Continuity and change from the fourth to the first century BCE
Carmela Roscino (University of Bari)

Epigraphic traces of theatre in Italy: Evidence, development, and cultural interactions.
Víctor González Galera (University Institute of Distance Education, Madrid)

Conclusion
Jessica Clarke (Institute of Classical Studies)