When Titus Maccus Plautus was 20, he used to roam the South of Italy with theater companies and he translated texts from Greek into Latin.

He became a slave for unpaid debt. When he was 50, he started writing his first comedies.

His comedies were called "palliata", the "pallium" was a short cloak with a hood, worn by actors, following the Greek fashion. In fact, both the setting and characters were Greek.

The palliata was characterized by actors wearing masks and playing types rather than characters. Plays took place during Loud Romani ( plays in the honour of Jupiter ) which went on for 7 days.