Decimus Laberius
Who was Decimus Laberius?
Ancient Roman writer
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Decimus Laberius (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Decimus Laberius was a Roman knight and writer of mimes, born around 105 BC. He is mainly known as a leading figure in Roman mime, a dramatic form that was quite different from today’s silent pantomime. Roman mimes were spoken, often comedic, and focused on everyday life, stock characters, and social satire. Laberius added a sharp wit and literary polish to the genre, setting his work apart from the less refined productions of other writers.
Before Fame
Laberius was born into the equestrian order, a social class between the senatorial aristocracy and the common plebs. His equestrian status gave him education and social respectability, which made his later humiliation by Julius Caesar even more hurtful to those who knew him. During Laberius's early years, mime was becoming popular, attracting audiences from all over Roman society. It seems he started writing in this genre early on and eventually became known for sharp social commentary and skillful verse.
Key Achievements
- Elevated the literary quality of the Roman mime genre, bringing greater sophistication to a form often regarded as low entertainment
- Authored numerous mime scripts, fragments of which survive and attest to his talent for social satire and epigrammatic expression
- Became sufficiently renowned that Julius Caesar personally selected him to perform at the celebrations marking Caesar's military triumphs in 46 BC
- Produced memorable lines during his forced public performance that were recognized by contemporaries as bold political commentary under dangerous circumstances
- His surviving fragments were collected and studied by later Roman grammarians, preserving his influence on Latin literary language
Did You Know?
- 01.Julius Caesar compelled Laberius, then around sixty years old, to perform in one of his own mimes during the celebrations of 46 BC, an act that was considered a severe social humiliation for a man of equestrian rank.
- 02.During his forced performance before Caesar, Laberius reportedly delivered lines that were understood by the audience as veiled criticisms of Caesar's autocratic power, including the famous phrase 'porro, Quirites, libertatem perdimus' — 'henceforth, citizens, we lose our freedom.'
- 03.Caesar granted Laberius a gold ring, symbolically restoring his equestrian rank after the performance, but Laberius made clear in a closing speech that the damage to his dignity could not so easily be undone.
- 04.Laberius was a contemporary rival of Publilius Syrus, another prominent mime writer, and Caesar staged a competition between the two in which Publilius Syrus was judged to have won.
- 05.Only fragments of Laberius's work survive, preserved largely in quotations by later grammarians and authors such as Aulus Gellius, making a complete assessment of his output impossible.