Roman theatre is said to have begun around 240 B.C. Most Roman dramas were translations or imitations of Greek plays. While broader forms of entertainment such as athletic events, music, dance and chariot races played a pivotal role in Roman life, theatrical forms included mime and farce, with comedy being more popular than tragedy. Only some of the comedies of Plautus and Terence survive today, yet no tragic works have survived. Like the Greeks before them, the Romans performed plays at religious festivals in honour of their Gods. Roman theatres were huge architectural structures, of which several exist to this day.
The standard texts of ancient Greek play scripts are all in the public domain. It is only certain modern translations that may have some copyright restrictions. On this page you will find the full text to the plays of the great classical tragedians Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, plus works of the comic playwright Aristophanes.