Rome and the Mysterious Orient: Three Plays by Plautus

305 Pages·2005·1.43 MB·English

by  Plautus

The Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature
In honor of beloved Virgil—
“O degli altri poeti onore e lume . . .”
—Dante, Inferno
The publisher gratefully acknowledges
the generous contribution to this book provided by the
Classical Literature Endowment Fund
of the University of California Press Foundation,
which is supported by a major gift from Joan Palevsky.
Rome and the Mysterious Orient
.

Rome and the Mysterious Orient
. . .
THREE PLAYS BY
Plautus
Translated with Introductions and Notes by
Amy Richlin
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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University of California Press
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© 2005by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Plautus, Titus Maccius.
Rome and the mysterious Orient : three plays by Plautus / translated with introductions
and notes by Amy Richlin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0–520–24274–2(alk. paper)—isbn0–520–24275–0(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Plautus, Titus Maccius—Translations into English. 2. Rome—Foreign relations—Drama.
3. East and West—Drama. 4. Imperialism—Drama. 5. Colonies—Drama.
I. Richlin, Amy, 1951– II. Title.
pa6570.a3r53 2005
872(cid:1).01—dc22 2005001618
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Printed on Ecobook 50containing a minimum 50% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free.
The balance contains virgin pulp, including 25% Forest Stewardship Council Certified for no old
growth tree cutting, processed either tcfor ecf. The sheet is acid-free and meets the minimum
requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992(r1997) (Permanence of Paper). I
To two great lyricists, Sylvia Richlin and Doris Zuckman
and to Sandra Joshel, marking twenty-five years of comedy
.

CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION 1
Why This Book 1
Why Translate This Way 2
Conventions of Reference and Abbreviations 4
How These Plays Got from Plautus to Us 4
Other Translations 9
Historical Background 9
Translation Issues 30
Performance Issues 48
Suggestions for Further Reading 53
WEEVIL (CURCULIO) 55
Notes 97
IRAN MAN (PERSA) 109
Notes 160
TOWELHEADS (POENULUS) 183
Notes 251
BIBLIOGRAPHY 273
General References 273
Translations, Commentaries, and Special Studies 278
Historical Background 279
INDEX 283