Plautus Menaechmi 3.3

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator)

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

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Current edition Perseus

Menaechmi, or The Twin Brothers (English) (Plautus. The Comedies of Plautus, Volume 1. Riley, Henry Thomas, translator. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1912.)

Editions (1)
Menaechmi Perseus (Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 1. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1895.) — 3.3 focus

Notes on the current edition

Menaechmi, or The Twin Brothers

1. Order the bracelet: Spinter or spinther is another name, derived from the Greek σφιγκτήρ, for the Latin armilla or bracelet. It received its Greek name, from its keeping in its place by compressing the arm of the wearer. Festus tells us that the bracelet called spinter was worn by the Roman ladies on the left arm, while the armilla was worn on either.
2. Give me some earrings: The drops of the earrings were probably to be of the weight of two didrachms. The earring was called among the Romans inauris, and by the Greeks ἐνώτιον. The Greeks also called it ἐλλόβιον, from its being inserted in the lobe of the ear. These ornaments were worn by both sexes among the Lydians, Persians, Libyans, Carthaginians, and other nations. Among the Greeks and Romans, the females alone were in the habit of wearing them. As with us, the earring consisted of a ring, and a drop, called stalagmium, the ring being generally of gold, though bronze was sometimes used by the common people. Pearls, especially those of elongated form, called elenchi, were very much valued for pendants.
3. Give me the gold: He asks for the gold with the intention of stealing it; for, in spite of their wealth, it is evident, from this, and what appears in the sequel, that both he and his brother are by nature arrant thieves.
4. Take off this chaplet: This he had been wearing at the prandium, or breakfast, at Erotium’s house. The latter appears to be a more fitting name for a meal that was taken generally about twelve o’clock; while the cena, which commenced in general at about three, cannot with propriety be termed anything else than a dinner.