1) The ludi Romani - in honor of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, this festival was given in September by the curule aediles. By 214, four days of this festival included ludi scaenici, or dramatic performances.
2) The ludi plebii - also in Jupiter's honor, held in November under the plebian aediles. At least three days of this festival were for ludi scaenici.
3) The ludi Apollinares - in July under the city praetor, with at least two days allocated for ludi scaenici. Some historians have explained the institution of this and other festivals at the beginning of the second Punic war as the result of the popularity of Roman drama, and the demand for more ludi scaenici.
4) The ludi Megalenses - in honor of the Great Mother, and first celebrated in April of 204, it became an annual festival in 194. This festival was given under the direction of the curule aediles.
Dramatic performances lasted more than one day, and perhaps as many as six, as was the case by the time of Augustus. By 200 BC there were about eleven days a year for drama, and after 191 BC, perhaps as many as seventeen. By the Augustan age, there were forty-three, although we cannot tell how much growth occured in the second century.