Titus Andronicus is not an historical play. It exists in three versions:

Shakespeare's play

A ballad dated 1594

A prose narrative account found in a C18th chapbook (small book of popular tales and ballads sold by chapmen), the only surviving copy of which can be found in America, in the Folger Library in Washington DC

Whilst Titus Andronicus has no direct sources, Shakespeare was influenced by the Roman playwright Seneca's five-act tragedies in which revenge, bloody murders and brutality all play a part. [For more on Seneca and Tragedy go to the For Teachers section].

Shakespeare seems also to have been influenced by contemporary playwrights, most notably Christopher Marlowe (The Jew of Malta) and Thomas Kidd (The Spanish Tragedy). Aaron the Moor (called 'Aron' in this production), like Shakespeare's later (often witty) villains - Richard III, Iago and Edmund - are direct descendants of Marlovian creations.