Plautus Miles Gloriosus 4.2

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator)

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Miles Gloriosus. Plautus. Henry Thomas Riley (Translator). London. 1912.

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Current edition Perseus

Miles Gloriosus, or The Braggart Captain (English) (Plautus. The Comedies of Plautus, Volume 1. Riley, Henry Thomas, translator. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1912.)

Editions (1)
Miles Gloriosus Perseus (Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 2. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1896.) — 4.2 focus

Notes on the current edition

Miles Gloriosus, or The Braggart Captain

1. My Circus, then: This is an allusion to the Circus at Rome , where the public games were exhibited.
2. To prowl after: Aucupo is properly applied to a birdcatcher, or fowler, who watches his nets.
3. Feeding this evening: Qui de vesperi vivat suo. She is supposed to mean those who are not out on the hunt for a supper, but have got one of their own at home. These latter persons, she thinks, living at their ease, and not having to satisfy a hungry stomach, are likely to have more leisure for prying into the concerns of other people, than those who are put to their shifts for a meal.
4. In need of no ashes: He says that she is so very clean spoken ( laute et minime sordide) that she needs no ashes with which to scour her words; the figure being derived from the custom of scouring brass vessels with pounded ashes.
5. Part of line 1000 in the Latin.
6. This mackerel: The lacerta was probably a delicate fish, whose name is now unknown, but not so much so as the mullus, the grey mullet, which was very highly esteemed by the Roman epicures.
7. Lackey at your heels: Pedisequus. The pedisequi were a class of slaves at Rome whose duty it was to walk behind their master when he went out of doors. The name does not seem to have been given to every slave who followed his master, but they belonged to a class which was almost the lowest in the slave family.
8. Of these votaries: Baccharum. Literally, one of the Bacchae, or votaries of Bacchus. Only those were admitted to the rites who had been duly initiated. These had a sign or password called symbolum, or memoraculum, by which they recognised each other, and thus Milphidippa asks Palaestrio to give her some proof that he is the right person for her to address. This pretended caution is only assumed in the Captain’s presence, in order the better to impose upon him, by affecting the utmost care and secrecy in the matter
9. Armed at all points: Habeo omnem aciem. Literally, I have all my troops in battle array.
10. Take your cue: Venator. Literally, hunt out, or act the hunter’s part, probably with reference to starting the game.
11. Charmer: Pulcher. Handsome man. This, as a surname, would not sound so very absurd in Roman ears, as Pulcher was a surname (cognomen) of a branch of the Claudian family.
12. In a vulture: , He probably alludes to the fact of the vulture sometimes carrying human flesh in its maw
13. Boar-pig: This passage is somewhat nodified in the translation.
14. A thousand measures: The modius was a Roman measure one-third of the amphora. It contained nearly two English gallons.
15. Part of line 1088 in the Latin.
16. Overhearing: Probably at the upper window, next door.
17. Nor touching you, nor: This is an instance of Aposiopesis. He is about to say something rude, but checks himself.