----- *************** ------ Ancient Roman History in Italian Melodrama: WHO'S WHO -- Dall'A alla Z -- d'Adriano, Agrippina a ...--- MASCAGNI, BOITO -- "The Rape of Lucrezia" ---- "Poppea" the first opera on an Ancient Roman historical topic

Speranza

This is a list of historical figures dealing with Roman History who have been characters in opera or operetta.

Historical accuracy in Italian melodrama has often been subject to the imperatives of dramatic presentation.

Consequently, in many cases,historical characters appear alongside fictional characters

Also, historical characters who never met, or whose lives did not even overlap, appear on stage together

Historical events depicted are transported to earlier or later times or to different places

Historical people are seen participating in entirely fictional events, or vice-vers

The actions of historical people are attributed to other persons

REFERENCES

Jellinek, George,
History Through the Opera Glass:
From the rise of Caesar to the fall of Napoleon,
Pro/Am Music Resources, 1994.

Morgan, Christopher, The true stories behind operas,
Oxford University Press, 1996.

Heller, Wendy,
"Tacitus Incognito: Opera as History
in L'incoronazione di Poppea",
Journal of the American Musicological Society, 52,  pp. 39–96.

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 A

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EZIO. Flavius Aetius, Roman general
Giuseppe Gazzaniga, Ezio
George Frideric Handel: Ezio
Gaetano Latilla: Ezio
Giuseppe Verdi, "Attila"


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Agrippa. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman statesman and general
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra

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Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Roman consul (32 BC)
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra (as Enobarbus)

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ALESSANDRO .Emperor Alexander Severus of Rome
George Frideric Handel: Alessandro Severo

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AUGUSTO. Caesar Augustus, Roman Emperor
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra (as Octavius Caesar)

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Aurelian, Emperor of Rome
Gioachino Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira

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B

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BRUTO. Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger,
Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars -- L'assassinio di Giulio Cesare.Tratto da Shakespeare.

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C

 

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Servilius Casca, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
Gaius Cassius Longinus, Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars


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CATONE.
Vivaldi.

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Tillius Cimber, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars (as Metellus Cimber)

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Helvius Cinna, Roman poet
Lorenzo Ferrero: Le piccole storie – ai margini delle guerre
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars

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Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Roman consul
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Lucio Silla

Emperor Claudio of Rome
George Frideric Handel: Agrippina

Clelia, early Roman figure.
Filippo Amadei, Giovanni Battista Bononcini and George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola

ORAZIO Cocles, Roman military officer
Filippo Amadei, Giovanni Battista Bononcini and George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola

Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus,
Roman consul, husband of Lucretia
Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

Emperor Constantine I "The Great" of Rome
Gaetano Donizetti: Fausta

Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, Roman leader
Francesco Cavalli: Coriolano

Marcus Licinius Crasso, Roman general and politician
Francesco Cavalli: Pompeo Magno

Flavius Julius Crispo,
Caesar of the Roman Empire
Gaetano Donizetti: Fausta

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D

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Emperor Diocletian of Rome
Henry Purcell: Dioclesian

Publius Cornelius Dolabella, Roman general
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra


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E

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Emperor Elagabalus of Rome (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus)
Francesco Cavalli: Eliogabalo
Pietro Simone Agostini: Eliogabalo

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F

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Fausta Flavia Maxima, Empress of Rome, second wife of Constantine the Great
Gaetano Donizetti: Fausta

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G

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Galla Placidia, Roman regent, daughter of Emperor Theodosius I
Jaume Pahissa i Jo: Gal·la Placídia (1913)

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H

ADRIANO

Adriano, Roman emperor
José de Nebra: Más gloria es triunfar de sí, o, Adriano en Siria
Girolamo Abos: Adriano in Siria

I

J

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Julia Caesaris,
daughter of Julius Caesar, 4th wife of Pompey the Great
Francesco Cavalli: Pompeo Magno

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GIULIO CESARE Consul and Dictator of Rome
Francesco Cavalli: Pompeo Magno
Carl Heinrich Graun: Cesare e Cleopatra
George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (in Egitto) (LONDRA)
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars
Antonio Sartorio: Giulio Cesare in Egitto (VENEZIA)

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K

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L

 Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Roman triumvir
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, heir to Emperor Caligula of Rome
Reinhard Keiser: Octavia

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Lucan, Roman poet
Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

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Lucretia, Roman noblewoman raped by Sextus Tarquinius
Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia
Ottorino Respighi: Lucrezia

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M

Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus,
Roman general, natural father of Scipio Aemilianus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126

Gaius Maecenas,
political adviser to Octavian (Caesar Augustus)
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra


MARC'ANTONIO
 Roman politician and general
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra
Domenico Cimarosa: La Cleopatra
Louis Gruenberg: Antony and Cleopatra
Henry Kimball Hadley: Cleopatra's Night
Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars
Jules Massenet: Cléopâtre

Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius,
aka Maximian, Roman ruler
Gaetano Donizetti: Fausta

Maximinian, co-Emperor of Rome
Henry Purcell: Dioclesian

Valeria Messalina, Roman Empress
Isidore de Lara: Messaline

Cecilia Metella Dalmatica, fourth wife of Lucius Cornelius Sulla
George Frideric Handel: Silla

Cornelia Metella,
Pompey's second wife
George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (in Egitto) (as Cornelia)

Gaius Mucius Scaevola, Roman figure
Francesco Cavalli: Mutio Scevola
George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola

N

Emperor Nero of Rome
Arrigo Boito: Nerone
George Frideric Handel: Agrippina
Reinhard Keiser: Octavia
Pietro Mascagni: Nerone (as Claudio Cesare Nerone)
Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
Anton Rubinstein: Néron
Juan Manén: Acté and Neró i Acté

O

Empress Claudia Octavia of Rome, consort of Nero
Reinhard Keiser: Octavia
Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

Octavia the Younger, fourth wife of Mark Antony
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra
Jules Massenet: Cléopâtre

Sallustia Orbiana, wife of Emperor Alexander Severus of Rome
George Frideric Handel: Alessandro Severo


Emperor Marcus Salvius Otho of Rome
Antonio Vivaldi: Ottone in villa

P

Gaius Petronius Arbiter, Roman courtier, writer

• Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

Gaius Calpurnius Piso, Roman senator

• Reinhard Keiser: Octavia

Pompey the Great, Roman military and political leader

• Francesco Cavalli: Pompeo Magno

Empress Poppaea Augusta Sabina, consort of Roman Emperors Nero and Otho

• George Frideric Handel: Agrippina
• Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

Lars Porsena,
King of Etruria
Filippo Amadei, Giovanni Battista Bononcini and George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola









Publius Valerius Publicola, Roman consul

• George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola

Q

R

S

Scipio Aemilianus, aka Scipio Africanus the Younger, Roman general, nephew and adopted son of Scipio Africanus the Elder

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126

Scipio Africanus, aka Scipio Africanus the Elder, Roman general

Francesco Cavalli: Scipione affricano

Gioacchino Albertini: Scipione Africano

George Frideric Handel: Scipione

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126

Antonio Sacchini: Scipione in Cartagena

Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher, dramatist

• Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass and others: The Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down
• Reinhard Keiser: Octavia
• Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea

Sextus Pompey, Roman general, son of Pompey the Great

• Francesco Cavalli: Pompeo Magno
• George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (in Egitto) (as Sesto)

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Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman general and dictator
George Frideric Handel: Silla
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Lucio Silla


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Lucius Tarquinius, one of 3 kings of Rome
Filippo Amadei, Giovanni Battista Bononcini and George Frideric Handel: Muzio Scevola

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Sextus Tarquinius, son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, King of Rome
Benjamin Britten: The Rape of Lucretia


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TITO
Emperor Titus of Rome
Antonio Caldara: La clemenza di Tito
Christoph Willibald Gluck: La clemenza di Tito
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: La clemenza di Tito
Josef Mysliveček: La clemenza di Tito
and settings of La clemenza di Tito by about 40 other composers

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Titus Manlius Torquatus, Roman dictator
Antonio Vivaldi: Tito Manlio


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Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor
George Frideric Handel: Ezio


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Publius Quinctilius Varus, Roman general
George Frideric Handel: Arminio

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Gaius Iulius Vindex, Roman general
Anton Rubinstein: Nerone

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