Plautus Asinaria 2.4

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator)

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Asinaria. Plautus. Henry Thomas Riley (Translator). London. 1912.

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Current edition Perseus

Asinaria, or The Ass-Dealer (English) (Plautus. The Comedies of Plautus, Volume 1. Riley, Henry Thomas, translator. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1912.)

Editions (1)
Asinaria Perseus (Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 1. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1895.) — 2.4 focus

Notes on the current edition

Asinaria, or The Ass-Dealer

1. Din them in his ear: Obganniam. This word literally signifies to bark like a fox.
2. Bosses on our door: The bullae, or bosses, here mentioned, were large heads of brass or gilt nails with which the doors of the Romans were ornamented.
3. Trying to mollify me: Inasmuch as he pretends to be jealous of Stichus enjoying the favour of the pretended Saurea, and being appointed his vicarius, or deputy, in preference to himself.
4. Would I always deal: Sic dedero. Camerarius and Lambinus give these words a rather far-fetched meaning, and think that they signify, I had rather give away my commodities, than sell them and be so ill- paid.
5. Writes a transfer of the money: Scribere nummos seems here to have the usual meaning of rescribere nummos, to transfer or set down money to the account of another person in one’s banker’s books.
6. Directly it was paid: It was the custom with the owners of slaves to let out their services for a specified sum. He pretends that Dromo is a slave that has been let out by him for a job, and enquires whether the money is paid on which he is told, that he has only been paid half, inasmuch as the job is not yet finished, and that the other half is retained until he has completed it.
7. Wish to make a present: At the suggestion of Gronovius, dare is read, in this line, with a comma after it, instead of da, the usual reading. In the latter case the passage would read, — if you choose, do a service for a friend, which certainly has not the point of the other version.
8. Your legs shall be broken: One of the most cruel punishments inflicted on refractory or runaway slaves was that of breaking their legs. To effect this, their legs were extended upon an anvil, and then struck with a bar of iron or a hammer.
9. Summon you to judgment: In jus vocare, to summon into court, was the term applied when one party lodged a criminal information against another.
10. With your good leave: Praefiscini. It was a common notion among the ancients, that if a person spoke in commendation of himself, he stood in danger of fascination—the effect of envy or enchantment on the part of another person. For this reason, on such occasions they prefaced with the word praemfiscini, understanding dixerim, I would say. This meant without impeachment of malice, be it spoken in a good hour, or, as we say, by your leave.
11. Man to a man is a wolf: There was an ancient proverb,
Homo homini lupus
, Man is to man a wolf. It probably implied much the same as the more celebrated words of a modern Poet:
Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn
.
12. You are appeasing me: This he seems to say in a spirit of irony. Huic capitulo is literally to this little head meaning, to this humble individual, myself.