Plautus Stichus 2.2

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator)

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

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Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)
Stichus Perseus (Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 2. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1896.) — 2.2 focus

Notes on the current edition

Stichus, or The Parasite Rebuffed

1. A reed as well: Arundinem, a long reed, probably like a fishing-rod, which would be able to sweep away the spider-webs otherwise out of reach.
2. A pail and water: Nassiternam. A water-vessel with three spouts, which received its name from nasum, a spout, compounded with tres, three.
3. Playing the Aedile: The writer here again refers, in a play the scene of which is at Athens , to Roman customs. The Aedile was a public officer at Rome , whose business it was to see that the streets, houses, and temples, were kept clean. They were chosen by the votes (suffragium) of the common people, to which fact Gelasimus alludes in the next line.
4. Collar of brawn: Glandium. This really was the neck of the hag, which received its name from the kernels (glandes) which it contamea.
5. Coverings for couches: Peristromatia, blankets or counterpanes were used among the Romans to cover couches; they were sometimes of the most costly description, and were mostly of purple colour, and frequently richly embroidered with gold. Pliny speaks of Babylonian cloths of divers colours, and in the seventh chapter of Joshua, ver. 24, we read, When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment.
6. Sackbuts too: Sambucas. Sambuca is supposed to be the same instrument which is mentioned in the third chapter of the Prophet Daniel, and is rendered in our version of the Old Testament by the word sackbut. This instrument was probably introduced into Greece and Rome from Syria or Phoenicia . It is supposed to have been a kind of triangular harp. The word sambucas is substituted in Ritschel’s edition for sambucinas, in the former editions It is probably intended here to have the same meaning— female players on the sambuca, who were also called sambucistriae, and whose performances were highly prized by the Romans as Asiatic luxuries.
7. An estate in fee: Haereditas. A fortune, or an heirdom, just as we say, I have come in to a fortune. He alludes to the pleasant life he anticipates, by spunging on the wealthy Epignomus and his brother.
8. Brought some Parasites: The arch boy only adds this to put Gelasimus in a fright, in which he fully succeeds. There was no necessity to import Parasites from Asia to Athens .
9. The sacred things: To perform a sacrifice on the safe return of her husband.
10. To my books: These were probably pamphlets, filled with jokes and funny stories, which Parasites would study for the entertainment of the patrons whom they were to amuse by way of return for their dinner. These books perhaps occupied the same position as the Joe Millers did in this country during the last century, and the Academies of Compliments in the century before. Indeed, the latter, in all their amplitude, would have been invaluable to a Parasite, as they contain directions how to court a lady, ask a riddle, sing a funny song, put a posy on a ring, direct a letter, and a hundred other things.