Terence

Terence. PUBLIUS TERENTIUS AFER (185(?)-159 BC.), the great Roman comic poet, is supposed to have been born at Carthage and carried to Rome by M. Terentius Lucanus, who gave him a good education and eventually set him at liberty. His Andria, Eunuchus, Heauton Timoroumenos, and Adelphi are merely adaptations of plays by the Greek dramatist Menander, whilst the plot of the Phormio is taken from Apollodorus. They depict Greek manners and set up a model of Greek refinement for the imitation of the Roman world. The Latinity of Terence is remarkably pure, and in pathos, wit, dramatic skill, and grasp of character he greatly surpasses Plautus. His graceful manners and literary acquirements gained him the friendship of Laelius and the younger Scipio. He is said to have died in Greece.