Titus Maccius Plautus, Truculentus [The Fierce One]

David M. Christenson (University of Arizona)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (The American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -190

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

According to Cicero (De Senectute 50), Truculentus was produced in Plautus' still vital last years. Cicero lumps Truculentus together with Pseudolus, securely dated to 191 BCE, and so we may assign a date of ca 190 BCE to the play. Truculentus thus debuted about ten years after the defeat of Hannibal in the Second Punic War, and falls within a period of unprecedented wealth in Rome.

Truculentus is a relentless satire featuring a clever prostitute (Phronesium; the root of her name means “wisdom” in Greek) who is masterful in her manipulation of her customers; for the satirical nature of the play see Dessen (1977) and Konstan (1983: 142-64). In the Roman moral tradition,…

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553 words

Citation: Christenson, David M.. "Truculentus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 May 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=26473, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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