Andronicus was probably born in the Greek colony of Tarentum (now Taranto, Italy), and was made a slave to a Livian noble. After being freed and adopting his former master name, he taught and produced for the uncultured Romans their first formal play, a translation of Greek dramas, in 240 BC. He is regarded as the father of Roman dramatic and epic poetry. His most important work is Odusia, a Latin version of Homer's Odyssey, written in saturnian verses