A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Roman Comedy

Introduction: A Modern Musical Rooted in Roman Comedy

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was a Roman-inspired stage play from which a film was later derived. The movie is a classic Roman comedy, and this is evident in particular through its characters. The majority of the characters are stock characters traditional to Roman theatre — some even bear the stock name outright, as with Senex, who is himself a senex character. These archetypes are essential to Roman theatre, especially its comedies. In addition, Roman theatre revolves around specific plot structures, and the plot that guides this movie is one of them. The character interactions within that plot structure closely mirror what one would find in a more traditional Roman comedy.

This paper analyzes three of these characters and shows how they identify the movie as a classic Roman comedy. While the film itself is a modern musical, if the musical element were removed, the remaining comedy would be easily understood and appreciated by a Roman audience, because the characters and the plot are immediately familiar.

Erronius: The Bumbling Fool

Erronius is the next-door neighbor. He plays a fool role and serves to promote the comedy of the film. He has poor eyesight, which leads to several gaffes, and he is easily duped, placing him in comedic situations such as being convinced by a false soothsayer to run around Rome seven times in order to learn the whereabouts of his children.

This type of character is popular in Roman comedy because of his penchant for the outrageous. Despite not being a central character, he can often be a major driver of the plot. One way this film departs from Roman tradition is that Erronius is not a slave but rather a neighbor. However, he still wears the scarf that on the Roman stage would indicate slave status. The bumbling fool generates significant humor even though the character himself typically does not intend to be funny.

Pseudolus: The Devious Slave (Servi)

Pseudolus is a slave character, and slaves comprised a significant portion of the Roman stage despite their low status in Roman life. A substantial part of the plot revolves around the exploits of Pseudolus, who plays the devious version of the servi character — a stock character in Roman theatre. Unscrupulous and eager to free himself from bondage, his willingness to deceive helps drive the plot, and he regularly interferes with the other main characters.

Pseudolus carries a large share of the dialogue and appears in most scenes. He introduces the characters and scenes in the film's opening number and speaks directly to the audience. While one is not expected to sympathize with him, it is clear that the servi character — and Pseudolus in particular — is the best-informed figure on stage, and his machinations directly shape most of what occurs in the film. This role aligns closely with the Plautine tradition of the clever slave as the central engine of Roman comic plots.

Conclusion: Roman Comedy in a Modern Musical Form

While the movie is ostensibly a modern musical comedy, all of its major elements directly relate to the Roman comedy tradition. The characters and plots would all be familiar to a Roman audience, even if the songs would not. As such, it is reasonable to conclude that A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a modern musical take on Roman comedy — and that without its music, it would be easily recognized and appreciated as a comedy by Roman audiences.