Disputatio:Scriptor scaenarius

Lemma

What's this adjective scaenarius? (L&S say it's late Latin for classical scaenicus.) The usual sense of scaena is 'the boards of a theatre, the stage, the scene, the theatre' (Cassell's), but the article isn't talking about playwrights (authors of works intended to be put on a stage, i.e. plays): it's talking about screenwriters (authors of works intended to be shown on a screen, i.e. movies & television shows). If scriptor scaenicus is to be a screenwriter, what's to be a playwright? Cassell's and Traupman both say fabularum scriptor, but if so, is the contrast with scriptor scaenicus clear and unconfusing? IacobusAmor (disputatio) 10:50, 11 Iunii 2016 (UTC)

So, two problems there!

I respect Cassell's and Traupman, but there is a problem with the word "fabula": it means other things besides "play", and a "scriptor fabularum" could just as well be a writer of stories. For that reason, I'd say "scriptor scaenicus" could be a handy and relatively unambiguous term for a playwright, as it is in our categories. How do you feel about that?

As for screenwriter, I don't have an immediate suggestion, ecxept that I guess "scriptor cinematographicus" might serve. No, I don't see why "scaenarius" comes in here ... hmmm, except that it agrees perfectly with your own previous page Scriptum scaenarium, where you cite Traupman as source. So you should feel flattered, Iacobe, it appears :)

This page is a non stipula as yet: no source, and very short. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:20, 11 Iunii 2016 (UTC)