Were actors and actresses always held in high regard in the general society or is it a recent phenomenon?

by RudraAkhanda

I was recently watching the HBO TV series Rome (acclaimed for historical accuracy), where upon Julius Caesar's death and public funeral, the town crier says

"No prostitutes, actors, or unclean tradesmen may attend."

Were actors in Rome really of so low social status to be clubbed with prostitutes? If so, why?

Today, actors and actresses are generally held in high regard and the profession is also one of the highest paying ones, on par with sportsmen, business executives, etc. When actors like Leonardo DiCaprio talk about climate change, it makes headlines.

When did this reversal happen and why?

Disclaimer: everything I’m about to say is about ancient Rome specifically, I do not know how much this would vary other civilisations, although I do know that actors were more respected in Ancient Greece.

So in the early Republic there were no female actors in ancient, only men, however this did change. You can look up the actress Acte if you want, she became Emperor Neros’ concubine. Basically, the profession of acting was considered lowly and shameful, however due to the ancient Romans love of entertainment, performers could boost great popularity — similar to popular actors of our time. This popularity only happened to a minority of performers, and some became quite respected. However, actors generally had a bad reputation as they would criticise politics as parts of performances, engage in sexual acts on the stage and other things which ‘toed the line’.

The quote from that TV series would be highly accurate, as actors were amongst the lowest in society. And yes, they were considered ‘like’ prostitutes because they were believed to sell their body for others entertainment. This is largely the reason why they were not respected, mostly by the higher classes. So the performers of Ancient Rome were perceived as unclean, to have loose morals, and be inferior (mostly by the higher classes and wealthy), but they could gather fame.

Ancient Rome was an extremely class conscious society, so yes their social rank was extremely low, BUT plays and entertainment in Ancient Rome was highly, highly popular. Due to this, much like gladiators and prostitues, actors could enjoy great popularity and we even know the names of some actors. But yeah, they had a really low social rank. This was why the Emperor Nero’s advisors and council were against his attempts to pursue drama — people gossiped and he became associated with a lowly, peasant profession.

So in general performers were not held in high regard, and they had an extremely low social status because it was perceived that they sold their bodies to entertain people. Entertainment such as plays was highly enjoyed by the Romans, although most actors were poorly treated and paid. However, some performers could accumulate fame, respect and great wealth, mostly performing in plays for the higher classes.

I feel like actors and actresses really begun to gain a following in the 20th century with Hollywood which glamourised their lifestyle, although they were still associated with debauchery.