PLAUTUS

born c. 254 BC, , Sarsina, Umbria? died 184 great Roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from Greek plays, established a truly Roman drama in the Latin language. Additional reading Full bibliography is in G.E. Duckworth, The Nature of Roman Comedy, pp. 447464 (1952); a more recent but selective one may be found in Mason Hammond, Arthur M. Mack, and Walter Moskalew, Plautus: Miles Gloriosus, rev. ed., pp. 5966 (1970). Still fundamental are the collections of ancient evidence and the discussions in Martin Schanz, 4th ed. by Carl Hosius, Geschichte der rmische Literatur I: Die rmischen Literatur in der Zeit der Republik, pp. 5586 (1927); and the article Maccius by A.F. Sonnenberg in Pauly-Wissowa Realencyclopdie, vol. 14, col. 95126 (1928). Useful is the briefer article Plautus by G.W. Williams in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd ed., pp. 843844 (1970). In addition to Duckworth (above), a good account is in William Beare, The Roman Stage, 3rd ed. (1964). A standard text is that by M.W. Lindsay, 2 vol. (1904 and reprints). The Loeb edition with English translation by Paul Nixon, 5 vol. (191638 and reprints), unfortunately used the text of Friedrich Leo, 2nd ed. (189596). Major Works: Twenty-one comedies (most dates uncertain) have survived: Amphitruo (Amphitryon); Asinaria (The Comedy of Asses); Aulularia (The Pot of Gold); Bacchides (The Two Bacchuses); Captivi (The Captives); Casina; Cistellaria (The Casket Comedy); Curculio; Epidicus; Menaechmi (The Two Menaechmuses); Mercator (The Merchant); Miles Gloriosus (The Braggart Warrior); Mostellaria (The Haunted House); Persa (The Persian); Poenulus (The Little Carthaginian); Pseudolus (first produced 191 BC); Rudens (The Rope); Stichus (first produced 200 BC); Trinummus (Three Bob Day); Truculentus; Vidularia (fragmentary; The Tale of a Travelling Bag).There is an English translation of all the extant plays in the Loeb Series (191638) and a French translation in the Bud Series (193240). Several of the plays have been translated in the Penguin Classics Series. Many other translations of specific plays are available.