Terence was a famous Roman playwright who lived during the time of the Roman Republic.

He was born about 195 B.C. in Carthage. Enslaved, he accompanied his "owner," the Senator Terentius Lucanus to Rome, where he proved his ability so much that Lucanus educated him and then freed him. His birth name was Publius, he took the name Terentius after the Senator who eventually freed him, and he was also known to be from Africa; thus, his name is often written as Publius Terentius Afer.

Terence is known to have written six plays, all of which survive:

• Adelphi (The Brothers)
• Andria
• Eunuchus (The Eunuch)
• Hecyra (The Mother-in-law)
• Heauton Timoroumenus (The Self-tormentor)
• Phormio

The plays are all comedies and are based on Greek originals in the New Comedy style of Menander and others. They contain familiar motifs such as mistaken identity, the various relationships between father and son, the intrigues of the cunning slave, and the adventures of a hopeless man in love. He wrote all of his plays during a six-year period, 166–160 B.C. He went to Greek to gather more material and died on his way home, in 159 B.C. His plays were popular during his lifetime and for some time afterward, at one time serving as standards for Latin instruction in both convents and monasteries.