Comic Actor Statues: A 2,000-year-old portrayal of a Roman actor from “Farting”

The ancient Romans are often portrayed as toga-covered or heavily armored men who have done serious business of building and running empires. However, this bronze statue of the comic actor, who protrudes out from behind him, shows the stupid side of the Romans.

The statue is located in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Pacific Palisard, California, and is only 2.4 inches (6 cm) tall. The style of the figurine indicates that it was made in a century or early advertisement in the Roman world.

The figurine depicts a chubby man wearing a comic mask and a cross-hatch pattern bodysuit. He squats down, grabs his ass and holds it with his left hand. He thrusts two fingers into the corner of his mouth.

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The bodysuit he wears is decorated with a huge, hanging flapping made of embroidered anus and cloth. According to Mary Louise Hart, a quasi-curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the accessory was typical of Aristofan’s Greek and Roman comedy actors.

The most successful comic poet in ancient Rome was Proutus (254-184 BC), who began working as a cartoon actor. He has written at least 130 plays, but only 21 survived. Proutus wrote many stock characters, including the love of soldiers and old men who boasted. However, this comic actor statue is more likely to portray a bit of a player, rather than a critical part of the cast.

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“We know from the many statues that leave so many people really like this character,” Hart said. “They thought he was so much fun, so they wanted to have a statue of him at home.”

According to the Getty Museum, the Romans loved crude humor, including dirty jokes, self-siege, absurdity and indecentness.

Other examples of Greek and Roman humor survive in a unique ancient joke book called Philogeros. In the 5th century, someone collected 265 jokes. Many of them feature “Goofs” and “Brave” types of numbers. It also includes farts such as Joke 241, translated by classicist William Berg.

A fool sits next to a deaf man and a fart. The latter notices the smell and screams in disgust. The fool said, “Hey, I can hear you’re okay! You’re teasing me about being deaf!”