Open Collections

Porter, Jennifer

University of British Columbia

The popularity of Roman mime endured for centuries and the genre occupied protean performance spaces, including circuses, theatres and amphitheatres, where its inclusion in public spectacles came – at least in part – at the expense of the public purse. Mime was a lewd performance genre with a reputation for ribaldry; it needled at the strict Roman social hierarchy. This thesis examines the paradoxical relationship between the Roman state and performers of this provocative genre, and is guided by the question: why would the Roman state sponsor the inclusion of mimes in its public entertainment? Chapter One identifies and examines twelve fragmentary mime scripts, revealing evidence for the routine use of props, costume, and musical instrumentation. This analysis implies that mime performances required a significant degree of preparation, often involving specialized props, planned percussive accompaniment, and visual character cues, undermining the notion of mime as a primarily improvised genre. This chapter positions Roman mime as a polished commodity for purchase by the state or private individuals. Chapter Two focuses on the economic relationship between mime troupes and their patrons and uses documentary records of their remuneration to examine the ways in which they were paid. This chapter finds that whilst mimes could be remunerated in both cash and in kind, there appeared to be a preference for the Roman state to pay in cash and for private individuals to pay in kind. Chapter Three employs Bakhtin’s theory of “folk carnival” to examine why Roman officials might fund performances of a genre that frequently mocked and parodied Roman institutions. This chapter also considers the didactic function of mime through analysis of Choricius of Gaza’s sixth-century Apologia Mimorum. Through examination of the papyrological, literary and material evidence for mime as it appeared on the stage, this thesis augments scholarly understanding of the practicalities of such performances. Having reframed mime as a commodity for purchase by the Roman state, and having assembled the papyrological evidence for performers’ remuneration, this thesis argues that the temporary inversion of Roman social values offered by mime routines served to reinforce these strict values outside of the performance space.

Text

2025-04-25

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90812

Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/