Origins & Early Life

Statius Caecilius, also known as Caecilius Statius (; c. 220 BC – c. 166 BC), was a Celtic Roman comic poet. A contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius, according to tradition he was born in the territory of the Celtic Insubrian Gauls, probably in Mediolanum, and was probably taken as a prisoner to Rome (c.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

200), during the Roman-Gallic wars. Originally a slave, he assumed the name of Caecilius from his patron, probably one of the Metelli. However, according to one source he was free-born of Samnite stock whose family had settled in Cisalpine Gaul following the Second Punic War. In this case he would have been a native speaker of a language close to Latin, rather than Gaulish Insubrian. There he came to the attention of Marcus Caecilius Denter, the Legatus Legionibus Praepositus in Cisalpine Gaul in 200 BC who introduced him in Rome.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He supported himself by adapting Greek plays for the Roman stage from the New Comedy writers, especially Menander, a genre called Comoedia Palliata. If the statement in the life of Terence by Suetonius is correct and the reading sound, Caecilius's judgment was so esteemed that he was ordered to hear Terence's Andria (exhibited 166...

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