The Roman playwright Plautus wrote comedies that are the earliest Latin literary texts to have survived in their entirety. Loosely adapted from lost Greek plays, the works of Plautus helped establish a truly Roman drama in the Latin language for the first time. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin texts. This comprehensive eBook presents Plautus’ complete extant works, with r...

Brilliantly adapting Greek New Comedy for Roman audiences, the sublime comedies of Plautus (c. 254 -184 bc ) are the earliest surviving complete works of Latin literature. The four plays collected here reveal a playwright in his prime, exploring classic themes and developing standard characters that were to influence the comedies of Shakespeare, Molière and many others. In The Ghost, a dissolute son who has squandered his father's money is thrown into disarray when he returns from abroad, ...

Classic Roman plays. Amphitryon, The Comedy of Asses, Teh Pot of Gold, The Two Bacchises, and The Captives. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of sur...

One of the supreme comic writers of the Roman world, Plautus (c.254-184 BC), skilfully adapted classic Greek comic models to the manners and customs of his day. This collection features a varied selection of his finest plays, from the light-hearted comedy Pseudolus, in which the lovesick Calidorus and his slave try to liberate his lover from her pimp, to the more subversive The Prisoners, which raises serious questions about the role of slavery. Also included are The Brothers Menaechmus, w...

Considered to be Plautus's greatest play, "Menaechmi; Or, The Twin-Brothers" is the story of two twin brothers, Menaechmus and Sosicles, who are separated at age seven when their father takes Menaechmus on a business trip. This classic play, which provided the inspiration for Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors", draws heavily on the theme of mistaken identity.

Two classic Roman comedies. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of surviving work. He attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark...

Classic Roman comedy. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of surviving work. He attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of th...

Classic Roman comedy. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of surviving work. He attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of th...

Classic Roman comedy. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of surviving work. He attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of th...

Classic Roman comedy. According to Wikipedia, "Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. Plautus wrote around 52 plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BCE, of which 20 have survived, making him the most prolific ancient dramatist in terms of surviving work. He attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of th...

From the fifth to the second century BC, innovative comedy drama flourished in Greece and Rome. This collection brings together the greatest works of Classical comedy, with two early Greek plays: Aristophanes' bold, imaginative Birds, and Menander's The Girl from Samos, which explores popular contemporary themes of mistaken identity and sexual misbehaviour; and two later Roman comic plays: Plautus' The Brothers Menaechmus - the original comedy of errors - and Terence's bawdy yet sophistica...

In The Captivi, the plot centers on two main characters, Tyndarus and Antipho. Tyndarus, a captured slave, is mistaken for another man and escapes from his captors. Antipho, a young man in love, is desperate to free his father, who has been captured by pirates. The confusion of mistaken identities, typical of Plautus’ work, creates much of the comedic tension in the play.The Mostellaria revolves around a young man, Philolaches, who defies his father's strict rules and throws a party in his...