Gnaeus Naevies was born in 260 BC in Campania. He fought in the first Punic War, and began producing plays in 235 BC. He drew from Oscan Farce, and specialized in comedies. However he did also write Tragedies and Histories. We have been left with over 30 titles of his plays, that when translated give the impression that most of his plays are about daily life. There are also fragments of some of these plays.
Naevius' play Clastidium got him into trouble. There was a law in the 12 Tables condemned to death anyone who slandered a living person, and also severally punished negative political allusions, which included any direct reference in the theatre to any living Roman. In this particular play Naevius had a line that said "Fato Metelli Romae fiunt consuls" = "By fate (i.e. not by virtue) the Metelli became consuls at Rome". For this it is said that the Metelli beat him, that is not a proven occurrence though. However he was imprisoned and exiled. After this not much is know of his career and he died in about the year 204 BC.