Plautus Captivi 2.2

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator)

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

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Current edition Perseus

Captivi: The Captives (English) (Plautus. The Comedies of Plautus, Volume 1. Riley, Henry Thomas, translator. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1912.)

Editions (1)
Captivi Perseus (Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 1. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1895.) — 2.2 focus

Notes on the current edition

Captivi: The Captives

1. The only cowards: He alludes to the notion in the heroic times, that it was the duty of a warrior to conquer or to die, and that it was disgraceful to be made prisoner.
2. Wielding the razor: It is hard to say whether by the word cultros, in this passage, razors or scissors are meant.
3. To put on the barber’s cloth: He probably means by thus expression that Philocrates has made no preamble, and shown no hesitation, in commencing at once to dupe the old man.
4. Or trim him: He alludes here to the two kinds of shaving and trimming the beard used by the barbers among the ancients. The one was close strictim, when they shaved to the skin; the other was, when with a pair of scissors they clipped the hair, with the interposition of a comb. The former fashion was called by the Greeks δκάφιον; the latter method, which was borrowed from the Persians, κῆπιος;. Esse in tonstrinâ, to be in the barber’s shop, was a proverbial expression to denote being imposed upon. Tyndarus is wondering to what extent Philocrates is going to impose upon Hegio.
5. Through the comb: The Greeks and Romans made their combs of boxwood, much of which was imported from Paphlagonia. The Egyptians used them made of wood and of ivory, and toothed on one side only; while those of the Greeks had teeth on both sides.
6. Thales the Milesian: A talent would be a low price for such a learned slave as Thales the Milesian, who was one of the seven wise men of Greece. He says, however, that Thales at such a low price would be nothing in comparison with Philocrates for the same money.
7. The Polyplusian: This word is coined by Philocrates for the occasion, as being the name of his family, from the Greek word πολμπλομσιὸς, very wealthy; probably with the idea of raising the expectations of Hegio and making him the more ready to promote an exchange of his own son for a member of so opulent a family.
8. Melting out the tallow: Hegio asks him if his riches are very abundant, and in doing so uses the word opimae, of which the primary meaning was fat; the other answers, Yes, so fat that he can be melting the tallow out of them even when he is an old man; meaning thereby that he is amply provided with means.
9. Thesaurochrysonicocrœsides: This is a name made up of several Greek words, and seems to mean a son of Crœsus, abounding in treasures of gold, in allusion to Crœsus, the wealthy king of Lydia. The author indulges m similar pleasantry in the Miles Gloriosus.
10. To his own Genius: As the Genius of a man was not only his guardian Deity through life, but the word was also used to signify his capacity for enjoyment; the term to sacrifice to his Genius, is supposed by some Commentators to mean, to indulge the appetite in feasting and good checr. This, however, seems not to be the meaning in this instance; and he probably intends to be understood as alluding, literally, to the domestic sacrifice to the Genius
11. Or to the public: Some captives were employed in the public service, while others fell into the hands of private individuals.
12. With a price set: Aestimatus here means entrusted to a person at a fixed value, and at his risk for the due return of it.