Terence

Born around 195 or 185 BC in Carthage, Terence was brought to Rome as a slave, where he received an education and eventually his freedom. Between 166 and 160 BC, he wrote six comedies adapted from Greek originals by Menander and Apollodorus of Carystus — all six survive complete. Around age 25, he's said to have sailed east seeking inspiration and died there, either from disease in Greece or by shipwreck on the return voyage, though ancient biographers may have invented much of this. His plays became standard school texts almost immediately, securing him a spot as one of four authors taught to…