Titus Maccius Plautus, Truculentus [The Fierce One]

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error

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,…

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 07 November 2024.]

26473 Truculentus 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.