Circa 250-184 B.C.E.
Miller, Playwright

Success. Plautus was probably named Titus Plautus ("Maccius" being a nickname). He was the most successful writer of Roman comedy, with at least twenty-one plays to his name. Born in Sarsina in Umbria, maybe before 250 B.C.E., he came to Rome as a stagehand. The story goes that he made a small fortune, which he lost in a speculative deal. He then got a backbreaking job in a mill, and there started writing comedies, including Stichus (200 B.C.E.) and Pseudolus (191 B.C.E.).

Sources:

William S. Anderson, Barbarian Play: Plautus' Roman Comedy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993).

Timothy J. Moore, The Theater of Plautus: Playing to the Audience (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998).