Quintus Novius (fl. 30 BC), was a Roman dramatist, and composer of Atellanae Fabulae (Atellan Fables). His efforts seem to have been directed towards giving literary dignity to this form of drama without diminishing their popular quality and traditional cast of characters. He is known to have written his works around the same time as Lucius Pomponius, who also wrote Atellanae Fabulae; Macrobius makes reference to him as a very well-esteemed writer whose atellaniolae ("little Atellans") found a receptive audience.
Some of Novius' known works, among the forty-three that are attributed to him, include:
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Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also mentioned in the Odyssey, in Virgil's Aeneid and in Euripides' The Trojan Women. In Etruscan legend, he was known as Aivas Vilates.
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war and is the personification of sheer brutality, in contrast to his sister, the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and generalship.
In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful architect, craftsman and artist, and was seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, and possibly also the father of Iapyx, although this is unclear. He invented and built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete, but shortly after finishing it King Minos had Daedalus imprisoned within the labyrinth. He and his son Icarus devised a plan to escape by using wings made of wax that Daedalus had invented. They escaped, but sadly Icarus did not heed his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun. The wax melted and Icarus fell to his death. This left Daedalus heartbroken, but instead of giving up he flew to the island of Sicily.
Helios, also Helius, in ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god and personification of the Sun, often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky.
Pelias was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. The son of Tyro and the god Poseidon, he was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece.
The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War, around 1300 BC, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts" literally means "Argo sailors". They were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area.
In Greek mythology, Peneus was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
There were several figures named Elatus or Élatos (Ἔλατος) in Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology, Zelus or Zelos was the daimon that personifies dedication, emulation, eager rivalry, envy, jealousy, and zeal. The English word "zeal" is derived from his name.
In Greek mythology, Autolycus was a successful robber who had even the power of metamorphosing both the stolen goods and himself. He had his residence on Mount Parnassus and was renowned among men for his cunning and oaths.
In Greek mythology, Cebriones was the illegitimate son of King Priam of Troy and a slave.
A stock character is a stereotypical fictional person or type of person in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film who audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of stock characters, covering men and women of various ages, social classes and demeanors. They are archetypal characters distinguished by their simplification and flatness. As a result, they tend to be easy targets for parody and to be criticized as clichés. The presence of a particular array of stock characters is a key component of many genres, and they often help to identify a genre or subgenre. For example, a story with a knight-errant and a witch is probably a fairy tale or fantasy.
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20. It is not clear whether Hyginus was a native of the Iberian Peninsula or of Alexandria.
In Greek mythology, the Hyades are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain.
The Atellan Farce, also known as the Oscan Games, were masked improvised farces. The games were very popular in Ancient Rome, and usually put on after longer pantomime plays. The origin of the Atellan Farce is uncertain but the farces are similar to other forms of ancient theatre, such as the South Italian Phlyakes, the plays of Plautus and Terrence, and Roman mime. Most historians believe the name is derived from Atella, an Oscan town in Campania. The farces were written in Oscan and imported to Rome in 391 BC. In later Roman versions, only the ridiculous characters read their lines in Oscan, while the others read in Latin.
Fabius Dorsennus was a thespian and author of Atellan Farce in Ancient Rome, known for his careless performances. According to Seneca his epitaph was: "Halt, stranger, and understand Dossennus' wisdom".
Lucius Pomponius was a Roman dramatist. Called Bononiensis (“native of Bononia”, Pomponius was a writer of Atellanae Fabulae, and a near contemporary of Quintus Novius. Pomponius was the first to give artistic dignity to the Atellan Fables by making them less improvised and providing the actors with a script and a predetermined plot. Pomponius’ skill in the utilization of rustic, obscene, quotidian, alliterative, punning, and farcical language was remarked on by Macrobius in his Saturnalia, as well as by Seneca and Marcus Velleius Paterculus. His work included political, religious, social, and mythological satires.
In Greek mythology, Agapenor was a leader of the Arcadians in the Trojan war.
The architectural form of theatre in Rome has been linked to later, more well-known examples from the 1st century B.C.E. to the 3rd Century C.E. The Theatre of ancient Rome referred to as a period of time in which theatrical practice and performance took place in Rome has been linked back even further to the 4th century B.C.E., following the state’s transition from monarchy to republic. Theatre during this era is generally separated into genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented by a particular style of architecture and stage play, and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of entertainment and control. When it came to the audience, Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times. 'Spectacle' became an essential part of an everyday Romans expectations when it came to Theatre. Some works by Plautus, Terence, and Seneca the Younger that survive to this day, highlight the different aspects of Roman society and culture at the time, including advancements in Roman literature and theatre.Theatre during this period of time would come to represent an important aspect of Roman society during the republican and imperial periods of Rome.
Decimus Junius Novius Priscus was a Roman senator, who flourished under the reign of the Flavian dynasty. He was a consul in the year 78 with Lucius Ceionius Commodus as his colleague.
