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Lucius Pomponius (fl. c. 90 BC or earlier) was a Roman dramatist. Called Bononiensis (“native of Bononia” (i.e. Bologna), Pomponius was a writer of Atellanae Fabulae (Atellan Fables), and a near contemporary of Quintus Novius. Pomponius was the first to give artistic dignity to the Atellan Fables by making them less improvised and providing the actors with a script (written in the metrical forms and technical rules of the Greeks) and a predetermined plot. Pomponius’ skill in the utilization of rustic, obscene, quotidian, alliterative, punning, and farcical language was remarked on by Macrobius in his Saturnalia, as well as by Seneca and Marcus Velleius Paterculus. His work included political, religious, social, and mythological satires.
Surviving Titles and Fragments
Some of the titles of the seventy works attributed to him are:
Aleones ("The Gamblers")
Bucco Adoptatus
Bucco Auctoratus
Capella ("The She-Goat")
Citharista
Collegium ("The College," or "The Guild")
Concha
Condiciones ("The Contracts")
Decuma
Dives ("The Rich Man")
Fullones ("The Cloth-Fullers")
Heres Petitor
Hirnea Pappi ("Pappus's Jug")
Kalendae Martiae ("The First Day of March")
Lar Familiaris
Leno ("The Pimp")
Macchus Miles ("Macchus the Soldier")
Macchus Sequester
Macchus Virgo ("Macchus the Virgin")
Medicus ("The Physician")
Munda
Nuptiae ("The Wedding")
Pannuceati
Pappus Agricola ("Pappus the Farmer")
Pappus Praeteritus ("Pappus the Departed," not to be confused with the eponymous of Quintus Novius)
