Laureolus
Roman runaway slave, highwayman, and bandit leader
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Laureolus (died before AD 41) was a purported runaway slave, highwayman, and bandit leader of the Roman Empire who was noted for his ability to evade authorities.[1][2][3] According to the poet Martial in his Book of Spectacles, Laureolus was captured, crucified, and condemned to damnatio ad bestias.[4]
Laureolus-mime
In or before the first century AD, a Roman mimographer named Catullus[n 1] wrote a play titled Laureolus, based on the historical individual. In its final act, the man playing Laureolus would be swapped out with a criminal, who was then crucified and condemned to beasts before the audience.[6] This play was one of the most popular in Rome until at least the second century.[7]
The earliest known instance of the play took place on the morning of Caligula's assassination in AD 41.[3] Suetonius considered Laureolus to be a bad omen and mentioned a performance in which the man playing Laureolus and several other actors vomited blood, which engulfed the stage.[8]
The Classical Association of the Middle West and South has interpreted the play's longevity as having been a means to discourage insubordination among the Roman population. They also suggested that Laureolus may have had a "stature as a folk hero to the disenfranchised in Roman society".[9]
Notes
- T. P. Wiseman identifies him as being Gaius Valerius Catullus, but this remains speculative.[5]