Abstract
Most Roman theatrical entertainments were performed by men and in masks; the major exception to this rule was the genre of mime, which employed actresses to play female roles and did not use masks. Mime was a broad genre, encompassing mostly comic performances ranging from scripted plays to improvised skits, variety shows, and musical numbers. Unlike its modern silent counterpart, Roman mime was a spoken (and sung) genre. Because of Roman social stigmas against elites and women performing onstage, mime actresses (mimae) were assumed to be prostitutes and occupied the same legal status category as them, that of infamis, ‘without honour’ (literally ‘unspeakable’). This chapter examines surviving mime scripts, known mime plots and literary, inscriptional and archaeological evidence about historical mimae to illuminate women’s contributions to Roman performance culture. Women also performed in public as pantomimes (interpretive dancers), singers, musicians, and, rarely, gladiators. By the end of the Roman Empire, mime was the most popular theatrical genre and mimae, despite and because of their social stigma, were the stars of the show.
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Duncan, A. (2019). The Roman Mimae: Female Performers in Ancient Rome. In: Sewell, J., Smout, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23828-5_3
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