Pseudolus carries a large portion of the dialogue and appears in most of the scenes. Pseudolus introduces the characters and scenes in the movie's opening, and speaks directly to the audience. While one is not expected to find sympathy with the character, it is recognized that the servi character, particularly Pseudolus, is the best-informed character and his machinations directly impact most of what occurs in the movie.
The character of Miles Gloriosus is named after the Roman character archetype. The name refers to a braggart soldier. This character typically is full of himself, viewing himself as superior. For example when Marcus Lycus says that he is dazzled by Miles' presence, Miles responds "Everyone is." Miles Gloriosus serves the plot by providing a comedic counterpoint to the protagonist of the play, the adulescens character.
The braggart soldier is a traditional archetype in Roman theatre, largely because the character was familiar to Romans as a part of their everyday life. Such people were easy targets for humor and on stage they were typically...
In this movie, Miles Gloriosus competes for the same girl as Hero, the adulescens character. This dynamic is typical of Roman theatre, because the adulescens character is typically weak, an underdog against the intimidating soldier. The soldier's inherent weakness however is a combination of arrogance and stupidity, and this leads to his failure, such as not getting the girl, which is what happens in this movie.
What characterizes A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as a Roman comedy is less the setting than the characters themselves. Roman theatre relies on
stock character archetypes, and with little variation all of the major characters in the movie fit their archetypes. In several instances, such as Miles Gloriosus and Hero, the character is named after the archetype. The situations that occur in the movie are driven in the same ways and by the same characters as would be traditional in Roman theatre, again indicating that the movie is a Roman comedy by style.
While the movie is ostensibly a modern musical comedy, all of its major elements directly relate to the Roman comedy tradition. The characters and plots would all be familiar to a Roman audience, even if the song would not. As such, it is reasonable to conclude that A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a modern musical take on the Roman comedy and without the
music it would easily be understood as a comedy by Roman audiences.
