Truculentus

Synopsis

Truculentus is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. Following the relationships between prostitutes and their customers, it contains perhaps Plautus's most cynical depiction of human nature in comparison with his other surviving plays. The title means "Truculent (or Surly)", referring to the bad-tempered slave who tries to prevent his young master Strabax from wasting money on his love affair with the courtesan Phronesium, but who later himself falls for the charms of her maid Astaphium. According to Cicero, the Truculentus was written in Plautus's old age. De Melo argues in his edition that certain references (such as falsis de pugnis in line 486, a reference to a speech of Cato made in 190 BC, or Homeronida ("son of Homer") in line 485, a possible reference to a play by Ennius produced in 187 BC) make it probable that the play was produced in 186 BC.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Book

Genres

fabula palliata

Created by

Plautus