User:Cynwolfe/Ancient Roman mime
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Ancient Roman mime (Latin mimus) was a popular form of theatrical performance featuring risqué language and jokes, sex scenes, action sequences, political satire, dance numbers and striptease; theatre that could not be categorized in any other genre might be loosely referred to as mimus.[1] It was an "anarchic genre" that could range from the mimilogus, which was scripted comedy with a plot, to variety acts based on juggling and acrobatics.[2] Unlike other forms of ancient drama such as Atellan farce and the literary comedies of Plautus and Terence, mime was performed without masks, which not only promoted stylistic realism in acting and facial expressions, but gave women the opportunity to play female roles that in traditional theatre were performed by masked men in drag[3] (see also travesti).
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Actor_basket_Louvre_K244.jpg/640px-Actor_basket_Louvre_K244.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Oinochoe_phlyax_BM_F99.jpg/640px-Oinochoe_phlyax_BM_F99.jpg)
A few writers of mime achieved literary status,[4] and famous performers might be taken into elite circles of Roman society, in the manner of modern celebrities. A performer of mime was a mimus (masculine, plural mimi) or mima (feminine, plural mimae). Mimi were sometimes called planipedes, "flat-foots," because they didn't wear the elevated shoes that were conventional in "serious" drama.[5] (Or that's what Conte says; others say they performed barefoot.) By the late Republic, mime had eclipsed traditional literary comedy in popularity.[6] From the second half of the 2nd century AD, mime performers gained in status, earning public honors and recognition.[7]
Ancient mimus bears virtually no resemblance to contemporary mime, but was closely related to the ancient performance genre called "'pantomime"' (Greek pantomimos), which contained no spoken dialogue. Story ballet is probably the modern form most comparable to the ancient pantomime.
during the Imperial era, story ballet and dumbshow came to predominate the form, leading to the rise of pantomime.[8] Conte seems to be wrong about this