Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) Phormio 2.2

Henry Thomas Riley (Translator), George Colman (Translator)

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Phormio. Publius Terentius Afer (Terence). Henry Thomas Riley (Translator), George Colman (Translator). Ney York. 1874.

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Current edition Perseus

Phormio; or, The Scheming Parasite (English) (Terence. The Comedies of Terence. Riley, Henry Thomas; Colman, George, translators. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1872.)

Editions (1)
Phormio Perseus (Terence. Publii Terentii Comoediae Sex. Parry, Edward St. John, editor. London: Whittaker and Co.; George Bell, 1857.) — 2.2 focus

Notes on the current edition

Phormio; or, The Scheming Parasite

1. And so you say. Donatus tells the following story with reference to this passage:
This Play being once rehearsed before Terence and some of his most intimate acquaintances, Ambivius, who acted the part of Phormio, came in drunk, which threw the author into a violent passion; but Ambivius had scarcely repeated a few lines, stammering and scratching his head, before Terence became pacified, declaring that when he was writing these very lines, he had exactly such a Parasite as Ambivius then represented, in his thoughts.
2. Have hashed it up. He is thought to allude here, figuratively, to the composition of a dish called moretum, (in praise of which Virgil wrote a poem,) which was composed of garlic, onions, cheese, eggs, and other ingredients, beaten up in a mortar. The allusion to eating is appropriately used in an address to a Parasite.
3. Turn upon myself. Donatus observes that in this Scene Terence exhibits the lower order of Parasites, who ingratiated themselves by sharping and roguery, as in the Eunuchus he describes Parasites of a higher rank, and of a-newer species, who obtained their ends by flattery.
4. In the stock at last.
In nervum; crumpat denique.
There are several interpretations suggested for these words. Some think they allude to the drawing of a bow till it breaks; but they are more generally thought to imply termination in corporal punishment. Nervus is supposed to have been the name of a kind of stocks used in torturing slaves, and so called from being formed, in part at least, of the sinews of animals.
5. They will take you. At Rome , insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors till their debts were paid.
6. To his patron. Regi. The Parasites were in the habit of calling their patron Rex, their King.
7. At free cost. Asymbolum. Without having paid his symbola, or club, for the entertainment. Donatus informs us that the whole of this passage is borrowed from one of Ennius, which is still preserved.
8. First to drink. To be the first to drink, and to take the higher place on the couch when eating, was the privilege of the most honored guests, who usually bathed, and were then anointed before the repast.
9. Banquet full of doubts. Coena dubia. Horace, who borrows many of his phrases from Terence, uses the same expression.