Fabia Arete

Fabia Arete was a dancer, actress and singer in Ancient Rome.

She was a freedwoman (specifically 'of Marcus'), which was a common background for a stage performer.[1] She is referred to as an archimima, which was the title for the leading lady actress of a Roman theatre, and as a diurna, signifying that she toured as a guest actress in different theatres and theatre companies, demonstrating that she enjoyed fame and popularity.[2]

She is described as a famed actress and likely belonged to the elite minority of Roman actresses employed to perform speeking roles in a period when female stage artists were normally engaged only to dance or sing in the choir, and she became wealthy enough to afford a grand funeral monument for herself and her spouse.[3] A role she is believed to have performed was the famous comedy role of the plotting wife Charition.[4]

References

1. Gregori, Gian Luca (2005). "I protagonisti della scena teatrale nella documentazione epigrafica di Roma". Scienze dell'Antichità: 12, 2004/2005: 575–590.
2. Christer Bruun, J. C. Edmondson: The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy
3. García Morcillo, Marta; Richardson, James H.; Santangelo, Federico (2016). Ruin or Renewal?: Places and the Transformation of Memory in the City of Rome.
4. Pat Easterling, Edith Hall: Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession