Ensemble Scenes in Plautus PDF

Ensemble Scenes in Plautus
Author(s): George Fredric Franko

Source: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 125, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 27-59
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1562209
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ENSEMBLE SCENES IN PLAUTUS
GEORGE FREDRIC FRANKO
Abstract. If Greek New Comedy never presented more than three concurrent
speakers, then any scene in the Palliata with four or more concurrent speakers
contains renovations. Plautus uses ensemble scenes to underscore lively or
dramatically significant symposia, eavesdropping, or family reunions and be-
trothals, especially at the finale. Terence uses ensemble scenes more pervasively
for shorter, calmer, and less significant episodes. The authorship of the Greek
original may influence the extent of ensemble scenes. Plautus probably created
ensemble scenes by rearranging entrances and exits and by endowing mute
characters with speech, often transforming silent women into important speaking
characters.
OUR PORTRAIT OF GREEK AND ROMAN NEW COMEDY is shaped

primarily by the extant works of three playwrights: Menander, Plautus,
and Terence. Comparison of the plots, characterization, language, and
stagecraft of these three poets helps to isolate what is common to the
genre or particular to one author. One point of composition and staging
that merits further exploration is the use of what may be termed "en-
semble scenes," the presence of four or five concurrent speakers in a
given scene.1 The extant scripts and fragments of Menander contain no
such scenes. We do not know whether he avoided them in accord with a
rule of dramatic competitions, widespread custom, or personal prefer-
ence.2 In contrast, the extant scripts of Roman comic authors freely
1 The idea to examine systematically scenes in Roman comedy with four or mor
speakers is not new. Gaiser (1972,1073-79) made preliminary remarks and Barsby (198
87) invited further investigation of the subject. Lowe (1997) gives a useful discussion o
such scenes in Terence, and the format of the present article derives from his study.
2 Nothing points to the use of four concurrent speakers in any scene of Greek New
Comedy. The evidence, albeit limited, is of four different types. First, no extant scene of
Menander, or of any other Greek New Comic author, employs more than three concurren
speakers (Gomme and Sandbach 1973, 16-19; Sandbach 1975; Hourmouziades 1973; Frost
1988, 2-3). Study of Old Comedy is useful for comparison: MacDowell 1994 (four speakin
actors and never more) and Marshall 1997 (three speaking actors through ventriloquism
and lightening changes, except in Lysistrata). Second, no extant ancient mosaics or pain
American Journal of Philology 125 (2004) 27-59 ? 2004 by The Johns Hopkins University Press
28 GEORGE FREDRIC FRANKO
employ four or more concurrent speakers. Five of Teren

contain ensemble scenes, and at least thirteen of Plautus' t
plays contain an ensemble scene.3 This article catalogues
scenes in Plautus, examines them for general tendencies, com
tendencies with those of Terence, and speculates on Plaut
to Greek originals. This article does not examine scenes
concurrent speakers whose performance requires more tha
ing actors due to exits, entrances, and other issues of bl
scenes raise a different issue, namely, the Roman reliance
speaking actor for rapid transition in continuous action.4
ings of Greek New Comedy show more than three masked characters
assume that unmasked characters were mutes, then we have no visual
concurrent speakers in a scene (Webster 1995, 2). Third, the remarks
Horace (A.P 192), and Diomedes (G.L. 1.490-91, quoted below) sugges
three speakers in Greek drama was, if not ironclad, at least commonly
spectators and readers. Fourth, inscriptions from the Soteria at Delphi (m
list troops of three actors for productions of both tragedy and comedy,
a limit of three speakers (Pickard-Cambridge 1988, 155-56, 283-84; cf. ske
Walton and Arnott 1996,65-67).
3 Only two plays certainly avoid four speakers onstage concurren
and Stichus. Possibly three more plays with substantial lacunae contai
scenes: Amphitruo, Aulularia, and Cistellaria. Given Plautus' preference fo
the loss of the final scene from Aulularia invites extra caution. Two o
insignificant fourth concurrent speaker for only a single line: Mercato
word eo, 788) and Pseudolus (a slave says three words, 159).
4 For example, at Miles V.1, Periplectomenus and his slave Cario torm
Pyrgopolynices. Periplectomenus and Cario exit in the same line tha
catches sight of his slaves entering (1427-28). Pyrgopolynices then conv
his slaves. Performance requires four speaking actors, even though on
occupy the stage concurrently. Other scenes that require four speaking ac
only three characters ever speak concurrently, include: Captivi II (the l
but are silent in 11.2) and V (see catalogue); Casina V.3 (only Lysidamus
characters eavesdrop); Mostellaria IV.2-III.3 [sic] (Phaniscus and Pinacium
silently and without eavesdropping on Theopropides and Tranio); Persa
silent in IV.6; Leo and Lindsay's attribution of 729-30 to Sagaristio, wh
wrong) and V.1 (Paegnium, addressed in V.1, does not begin speaking u
III.4 (the women speak in III.3 and remain silent onstage throughout the r
lorarius may have one line at 764) and III.5 (with the women and lorari
speaks with Labrax; after Daemones departs, Labrax converses with one
For discussion of the deployment of actors, see Conrad 1915; Prescott 1923,
1932; Duckworth 1952, 94-98; Marshall 1997. This article also does not
four-speaker scenes that could be created if more than one member of a g
as the lorarii in Captivi and Rudens or the fishermen in Rudens; we sim
whether these groups spoke as individuals or had a single spokesman (cf
ENSEMBLE SCENES IN PLAUTUS 29
The conclusions in the text rest upon the details highligh

catalogue. In general, Plautus uses four or more speakers to
festive, boisterous, or dramatically significant scenes. More s
he uses additional speakers to enliven symposiastic scenes, t
and affirm family reunions and betrothals, and to create marke
rical effects with eavesdroppers. He likes to close plays with
scenes, and he favors vigorous trochaic septenarii and cantica
iambic senarii and iambic octonarii in ensemble scenes. There is no
evident correlation between the chronology of his plays and his
ensemble scenes.
These conclusions about Plautus' general practices are modest, bu
a comparison with Terence illuminates significant differences in tech
nique. Terence inserts additional speakers more pervasively than doe
Plautus and for shorter episodes. He commonly exploits a fourth speak
for eavesdropping and rarely for boisterous scenes. Although sometim
the dramatic significance of an ensemble scene in Terence is minimal
indiscernible, Plautine ensemble scenes are almost always either signi
cant to the development of the plot or boisterous at the least, and wh
Terence's ensemble scenes have no cantica, he uses iambic senarii and
iambic octonarii much more readily than does Plautus.
Comparison of Plautine scripts with lost Greek originals is high
speculative. There may be a correlation between the presence of en-
semble scenes in Plautus and the authorship of the Greek original. I
appears that Plautus sometimes rearranged entrances and exits or brought
offstage action onto the stage, thereby creating ensemble scenes. Plaut
likely endowed mute characters with speech more often than creatin
new speaking characters; in particular, it seems that Plautus enjoye
transforming the silent women in his models into significant, persuasive
speaking characters.
At the most basic level, the dramatic impact of a fourth or fift
concurrent speaker is an increase in a scene's magnitude. Diomed
(G.L.1.490-91) grasped this when he claimed that Roman playwright
added speakers to enliven the spectacle: "in Graeco dramate fere tre
personae solae agunt, ideoque Horatius ait: 'ne quarta loqui perso
laboret,' quia quarta semper muta. at Latini scriptores complures pers
nas in fabulas introduxerunt, ut speciosiores frequentia facerent." Plautus
In Phormio 11.4, the three advocati do speak singly, but they are named individuals. Finall
Curculio 11.2 is not an ensemble scene because Palinurus exits at 257 and his later lines
should be attributed to the cook (Lowe 1985, 96-97).
generally limits ensemble scenes to one or two key locations

and the additional speaker frequently amplifies the farcical
the scene. Although there appears to be no restriction on wh
activity can or cannot be presented with four or more speak
does use ensemble scenes to great advantage in animating thr
lar comic tropes. His ensemble scenes present lively sympo
and validate the reunion of families or betrothals, and creat
metatheatrical effects with eavesdroppers and their asides.
Symposiastic ensemble scenes are distinctively Plautine.
streetfront setting of Greek and Roman New Comedy brin
intimate, domestic activities into full view of the audience,
toiletry scenes of Mostellaria and Poenulus, it seems that wild sy
behavior in Greek New Comedy normally occurs behind clo
and is only reported to viewers. For example, at the close of
Dyskolos, Getas reports that inside the cave, "it's rowdy in ther
drinking [wine]" (901-2), and Sikon describes women beginnin
and dance (946-53). While Terence also refrains from showin
parties onstage, Plautus shows his audience several memora
sia.5 These need not be ensemble scenes (witness the wild
Stichus), but three of his liveliest parties make full use of extra
the endings of Asinaria (cat. no. 2) and Persa (cat. no. 18), and
in Mostellaria (cat. nos. 15, 16). The onstage party in Mostella
than just farcical fun because it signals a transition from th
exposition of the play's first three hundred lines to the fre
that pervades the rest of the piece. The audience has witness
denouncement of hedonistic revelry, Philolaches' canticum la
dissolute ways, Philolaches' observation of his beloved Phile
grooming, and, finally, his conversation with Philematium. P
sentation of two carousing couples onstage vividly confirms for
tators the reports of past debauchery and demonstrates the mag
the challenge that Tranio now faces in concealing such from
father, who has arrived at the harbor in mid-debauch. While the
Mostellaria shows the young lover already enjoying his belo
parties that close Asinaria and Persa celebrate the successful
of the beloved (Philaenium and Lemniselenis) from the con
5For arguments that Plautus moved the symposiastic scenes outsid

(1995); for the spectacular impact of nonverbal and improvised elements,
(1995, 209-10, on Mostellaria) and Erren (1995, 225, on Persa). In general,
difference between "Terentian restraint and Plautine exuberance and vulg
presentation of drunkenness (Duckworth 1952, 326-27).
lena or leno to the control of the lover (Argyrippus and T

parties allow the audience a vicarious taste of the victory
clever ruse. A contrast with the aforementioned offstage
Dyskolos underscores a major point. In Dyskolos, as often
the feast celebrates a betrothal: it is a wedding party. In
three onstage revels are liaisons between adulescentes ama
etrices rather than betrothals between freeborn citizen lovers.
As the final scenes in Asinaria and Persa demonstrate by their
unions of adulescentes amantes and meretrices, Plautus does not necessar-
ily aim for a play to culminate in the establishment of a family uni
through a legitimate marriage.6 Nevertheless, the ostensible goal of many
pieces of New Comedy is the reunion of an old family or the formatio
of a new family through marriage. Long-lost parents, children, or siblings
are reunited, and young lovers overcome obstacles to their unions (Fry
1957, 163-71). Plautus sometimes chooses to follow that paradigm, stag
ing ensemble scenes to witness and validate the reunions of families in
Captivi (cat. no. 4), Curculio (cat. nos. 9-10), Poenulus (cat. nos. 22-26)
and Rudens (cat. no. 28), as well as to seal the betrothal scene that end
Trinummus (cat. no. 29). His use of ensemble scenes in Curculio and
Poenulus is especially happy, for in both of these plays, Plautus has
exploited the availability of four or more concurrent speakers to com
press several discrete ideas into one tidy and emotional sequence. In
both plays, the audience experiences without interruption the recogni
tion of an enslaved young woman, the reunion of her family, a conse
quent removal of a soldier's opposition to a betrothal, the betrothal
itself, and a final settlement with the leno. Such scenes would requir
exits or choral interludes to perform with only three concurrent speakers.
The availability of a fourth concurrent speaker enables Roman
playwrights to create ensemble scenes in which eavesdroppers listen t
and comment upon the dialogue of other characters in a way not avail
able to Greek playwrights acknowledging a rule of three speakers. Eave
droppers need not gain any valuable information and seldom do i
Roman comedy.7 More importantly, their asides serve to enhance th
theatricality of the situation and perhaps help shape the responses of the
6 On the propensity for Menander's plots to end in marriage and Plautine plots t
end more often in arrangements between courtesan and paramour, see Brown 1993; Wil
1989. Recall that Plautus relegates the recognition and betrothal of Casina to an epilogu
7 Hiatt 1946,1-21. There are important exceptions as, for example, Chalinus' discov-
ery through eavesdropping that Lysidamus plans to spend the night with Casina at th
neighbor's house (436-503).
viewing audience (Slater 1985, 162-65). Several episodes in P

veal the playwright's attempt to stretch the boundaries of c
eavesdropping. For example, his presentation of unusually
eavesdropping scenes highlights the climax of Casina. Only i
we find the presentation of three or more eavesdroppers on
(cat. nos. 7, 8). The women, who have taken control of the
scripted a play-within-a-play, overhear the reports of Oly
Lysidamus, both of whom are trying to take the audience
confidence about their misadventures with the false bride "Casina." The
men are unaware of any internal audience onstage, let alone the size of
that audience. The tables have been turned, and ensemble scenes mar
the ultimate triumph of the women and debasement of the men, who are
overheard by the rest of the cast.
More commonly, two eavesdroppers listen to and comment upon
the dialogue of two other characters, creating what may be termed a
"double dialogue."8 These scenes, which are highly unnaturalistic in tha
one dialogue freezes while the other resumes, range from purely farcic
diversions with little or no advancement in plot (e.g., cat. nos. 1, 3, 19, 23)
to integral components in the planning and execution of a ruse (cat. no
13, 17, 21). Of these, the double dialogue deceptions scripted by Plautu
in Miles (cat. no. 13) and Persa (cat. no. 17) merit special attention
Eavesdroppers generally occupy a position of power, for while they hav
the potential to acquire secret information, their eavesdropping mainl
enables them to establish great rapport with the audience (Moore 1998
33-40). The scenes from Miles and Persa rely on that tradition to con
struct exceptionally complex, metatheatrical scams in which the victim is
bamboozled by witnessing a play-within-a-play alongside the very direc
tor of that play. The victims think that they hold a position of power
when, in fact, the overheard dialogue is staged to deceive them (cf. Slater
1985, 164). The repeated deceptions at the end of Miles rely heavily on
ensemble scenes. In catalog number 12, the clever slave Palaestrio re-
hearses with his actors the script for his deception of the soldier, and the
deception is performed capably by the cast in catalog numbers 13 and 14.
The double dialogue scene in catalog number 13 is remarkable for its
presentation of the two women play-acting for an internal audience o
the two eavesdroppers, the soldier Pyrgopolynices and Palaestrio. Palaes
8 Catalogue numbers 1, 2 (actually two characters eavesdrop on three speakers), 3,

13, 17, 19, 21, 23. For discussion of double dialogues, see Duckworth 1952, 113-14; Low
1997. Eavesdropping is here considered as the extended activity rather than the simpl
overhearing of an entrance monologue followed by a greeting of the new arrival.
trio's comments serve to shape the soldier's understanding of

overhear, and thus he is gulled by the arrival of the young lover
as a ship's captain. Similarly in Persa, the pimp is egged on b
they overhear a rehearsed conversation between Sagaristio and h
ter, disguised as Persians. The trick works, as the pimp, gulled b
performance, is ready to buy her even before he proceeds to
her. Naturally, such scenes cannot exist in plays with only th
rent speakers, because the ruses require three speakers to ho
victim: two to be overheard and one to engage and misdirect
The placement of ensemble scenes can be as important
typology. Of the thirteen Plautine plays with ensemble scenes, n
four or five concurrent speakers onstage in the last scene.9 This
a Plautine preference for ending with a bang onstage rather
the report of a loud party offstage, and the grand finale can be
manifestation of the essential comic spirit that expects a ko
end (cf. Segal 2001, 10-26; Frye 1957, 163-64). In marked con
the frequent grand finales, not a single Plautine play begin
ensemble scene. In fact, none opens with more than two co
speakers, except for Cistellaria, which begins with a canticum
women. His earliest presentation of four concurrent speakers
occurs after a lengthy prologue and some seventy lines of
Perhaps the playwright saw the need for expository episodes
duce plot and delineate characters for his audience before p
them with more ambitious, potentially confusing four-speaker s
9 Note also that the staging of Miles requires four speaking actors at th
n. 4). Although Plautus aims for a grand finale, his limit seems to be five speak
no extant scene contains six concurrent speakers except for one (spurious
Poenulus. Our manuscripts preserve two endings of Poenulus, neither of whic
genuine Plautine ending (Maurach 1988, 174-80, 210-13). The second ending
contains six speakers. The only other scene possibly requiring six speaker
Phormio 11.4 where three advocati listen in silence to three other speakers, th
to Demipho.
10My own experience with staging plays of Plautus in Latin sugges
hundred lines of senarii occupy roughly ten minutes of stage time. If, as seems
entire extant prologue of Poenulus were genuine, the ensemble scene would be
twenty minutes into the play. One need not accept Jocelyn's (1969) conclu
extant prologue is a conflation of the work of three poets, none of whom ma
himself, to admit that sizeable portions of the Poenulus prologue could be int
the other hand, Slater (1992) defends the theatrical efficacy of the extant scr
1 Donatus hints that a plurality of speakers can become confusing (a
"hic inducitur multiplex concursus dissimilium personarum et tamen virtu
poetae discretarum, ut confusio nulla sit facta sermonis."
The variety of plots, resolutions, and denouements means th

can be no single overriding motivation or typology for clos
ensemble scene. Nevertheless, some common points in stag
that closing with an ensemble scene might serve to enhance
humiliation of blocking characters. For example, the final trium
recalcitrant leno tends to invite a relatively large number o
thus the end of Curculio (cat. no. 10) has four or five speakers,
no. 18) has five, and Poenulus (cat. nos. 25, 26) five or six. P
relatively crowded stage to witness the humiliation of this block
acter reflects the outcry of the entire civic community against
typed leno, who traffics in freeborn women wrongfully ens
larly, both Asinaria (cat. no. 2) and Casina (cat. no. 8) present the
triumph of matronae over senes in raucous finales requiring
ers. The presentation of five rather than three speakers visually
the humiliation of the vanquished senex amator, effectively dun
for his scandalous intentions and validating the matrona's op
front of not only the family but also the entire comic polis.
There is no necessary connection between the type of co
the presence or absence of ensemble scenes; that is, a ruse t
pimp can employ four concurrent speakers (Persa) or not (
In one circumstance, the refusal to present an ensemble sc
significant. The comedies featuring twins or doubles invite s
tion, especially if the palliata employed masks. The two play
on the repeated confusion of identities, Menaechmi and Amphit
present scenes of four or more concurrent speakers. Unless
has been lost in a lacuna, it seems that Plautus did not prese
Sosias and two Amphitruos all onstage together, such as we m
from seeing Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. Nor does Plaut
the two Menaechmi together with two other concurrent spe
This avoidance of ensemble scenes in Menaechmi and A
becomes more remarkable in light of the possibility that the
in Bacchides either were twins or at least wore very simila
Plautus does present the two Bacchis sisters together near th
and in the ensemble scene that closes the play, which may u
thematic point. Bacchides shows the two Bacchis sisters wo
gether at the beginning and end of the play to manipulate
12 The case for taking the sisters as twins, or at least similar in appearanc
the dubious attribution of fragment V: sicut lacte lactis similest (Barsby 1986
1983, 316-18). The confusion of the sisters centers upon the identical nam
identical appearance (Garcia-Hernandez 2001, 157).
around them; thus, Plautus may have presented their two masks
side-by-side and reinforcing each other. The masks could visu
the Bacchides' power over other individuals. In contrast, Amp
Menaechmi show two identical masks in conflict, with one sid
assert supremacy over a mirror image (Amphitruo) or strug
account for the actions of its other half (Menaechmi). The au
the masks of the male twins try to negate each other rather
force each other.
The impact of Plautine ensemble scenes on an audience is not only
visual but also auditory. Changes in meter reflect and reinforce the
excitement of lively ensemble scenes. For example, in Casina (cat. no. 5),
Olympio and Lysidamus speak in unaccompanied iambic senarii until
Chalinus and Cleostrata arrive for the lottery, whereupon the meter
shifts to musically enhanced trochaic septenarii. Granted, changes in
meter often mark the entrance or exit of a character, but the preponder-
ance of verses not in iambic senarii for ensemble scenes in Plautus is
remarkable. Of the thirty-two scenes catalogued, only seven are wh
or partly in iambic senarii, and five of those come from Poenulus. A
from that play, only two ensemble scenes contain iambic senarii (cat. no
9, 27). Ensemble scenes are by nature lively and thus iambic senar
unaccompanied by the tibiae-would sound inappropriately flat. It sh
come as no surprise that spirited trochaic septenarii, the most com
meter in Plautus, dominates ensemble scenes.13 Moreover, one-quarte
Plautine ensemble scenes are wholly or partly in mixed cantica. Th
presence of a fourth singer is particularly striking when it creates
paired duets in Bacchides (two sisters seduce two old men) and Poen
(Agorastocles and a companion eavesdrop and comment on the rema
of two women in cat. nos. 19 and 23, the only cantica in the play). Plaut
has certainly subjected scenes in polymetric cantica to extensive met
renovation, and we can suspect that his alterations sometimes inclu
the creation of ensemble scenes.
Although the chronology of Plautus' plays is murky, it is possib

that Plautus grew bolder over time in his use of polymetric cantica (Buck
1940; Sedgwick 1949; Schutter 1952), and this possibility could invit
speculation about emergent tendencies in Plautus' use of ensemble scen
However, the only two plays with secure dates, Stichus (200) and th
relatively late Pseudolus (191), have no four-speaker scenes, except f
13 Nearly two-thirds of Plautus' ensemble scenes employ trochaic septenarii: fiftee

are wholly in trochaic septenarii, and five more are partly in that meter. Furthermore, th
scenes employ iambic septenarii (cat. nos. 1, 13, 23).
three words by the slave at Pseudolus 159. Bacchides, thou

is performable by three speakers up until the final scene. Cas
to be late, requires five speaking actors, but so too does Asina
to be early. Such data suggest a negative conclusion: there
connection between the chronology of Plautus' plays
ensemble scenes.
We can gain a greater understanding of Plautus' distinctive tech-
niques and priorities by comparing his deployment of ensemble scenes
with the practice of Terence. There are some broad similarities. For
example, Terence also evidently aims for a grand finale, as four of his
plays require four speakers in the final scene.14 Again, like Plautus,
Terence's opening scenes are monologue or dialogue, and the earliest
introduction of a fourth speaker comes a quarter of the way throug
Heauton Timorumenos (line 242). But five major differences suggest th
Plautus may have used ensemble scenes more sparingly for greater dr
matic impact.
First, Terence uses ensemble scenes more routinely and pervasively
than does Plautus. Out of his six plays, only Hecyra lacks an ensemble
scene. In general, Terence is more willing to introduce ensemble scenes
throughout a play than is his predecessor. Whereas Plautus tends, with
the exception of Poenulus, to confine ensemble scenes to only one or two
passages in each play, Terence includes them passim.15 Comparison of
scripts based on Menandrean originals is especially telling: while Terence
presents many ensemble scenes throughout all four of his Menandrean
originals, Plautus apparently only adds one speaker to one scene of
Bacchides. In this important regard, Terence may be considered to take
more liberties than Plautus.
Second, Plautus tends to write longer, more complex ensemble
scenes than does Terence. Entrances and exits in Terence lead to very
short ensemble scenes such as Heauton Timorumenos IV.1 (8 lines)
Andria III.1 (9 lines), and Heauton Timorumenos 11.3 (9 lines). While th
longest of the twenty-three Terentian ensemble scenes are Phormio IV.3
(76 lines) and Phormio V.9 (66 lines), the rest contain fifty lines or fewer,
which means that they are generally brief episodes occupying fewer than
14 Heauton Timorumenos, Eunuchus, Phormio, and Adelphoe. Later producers per-

haps felt the impulse to end with a grand finale: while the Terentian ending of Andria has
three speakers, in the alternate ending someone has added a fourth speaker for a tidy
betrothal.
15 Heauton Timorumenos has six ensemble scenes. Andria and Eunuchus have five
each. Phormio has four and Adelphoe has three.
five minutes of stage time. Plautus, rather than peppering his sc

ensemble scenes, served them to his audience in one or two
tions. Such lengthy ensemble scenes as Poenulus 1.2 (200 line
III.3 (155 lines), Persa IV.4 (124 lines), and Rudens IV.4 (138 l
the ending of Poenulus (V.4 to V.6 or V.7, over 200 lines eit
require the audience to follow the interaction of four or more c
speakers for more than ten minutes. The very length of th
ensemble scenes allows greater scope for memorable activitie
brief Terentian episodes.16
The third point may relate to the relative length of ensemb
While the addition of a fourth speaker sometimes makes litt
impact in scenes of Terence, the impact in a given Plautine
scene is readily discernible. Lowe concluded that a majority o
ensemble scenes involved eavesdropping, then frankly adm
with the rest "it is not possible to see any special dramatic ef
participation of more than three speakers" (1997, 159). In h
the presence of a fourth speaker is often "incidental," "dispe
"a sort of doublet" of a third speaker, perhaps because many
ensemble scenes are quite short and often one speaker has ver
say. We can imagine many Terentian ensemble scenes with
speaking characters at little to no cost. In contrast, Plautin
scenes are usually boisterous and often significant to the ac
excision of a fourth speaker would considerably lessen the
impact of the drinking parties, the double seduction of the
Bacchides, the slapstick lottery in Casina, the two episodes of
ping on women in Poenulus, the duping of the soldier in Mi
forth. We must also remember that the speakers interact with e
on the non-verbal level as well. A fourth speaker may have l
but much to contribute to a scene's total impact through gesture
movement, and the performance of a character's stereotyped
Fourth, there are differences in the relative frequency and
of eavesdropping scenes. Lowe (1997) has rightly pointed ou
majority of Terentian ensemble scenes exploit an additional s
16 Consideration of mean averages may be worthwhile but should not

For Terence: 721 lines in 23 ensemble scenes yields a mean of 31 lines per en
for Plautus, the 32 scenes in the catalogue have 2042 lines, yielding a mean of
number of lines per ensemble scene in Plautus is actually much higher if w
several of the scenes catalogued run continuously (cat. nos. 15-16,23-25/26,
17 Cf. Gerdes (1995,96-106) on how the marked silence of speaking fem
ters can make them the focal point of a scene.
eavesdropping, especially in order to create double dialog

which two characters eavesdrop on the conversation of tw
make emotional asides. Only twelve (roughly one-third) o
semble scenes involve eavesdropping. Of these, eight pre
dialogues, and half of those provide farcical bits to enha
without advancing the plot (cat. nos. 1, 3,19,23). But in four o
Plautus uses a double dialogue with eavesdropping to adv
in crucial ways. Terence does not do this. As discussed abo
ping and double dialogue are necessary parts of a ruse in
13) and Persa (cat. no. 17). In Poenulus (cat. no. 21), the e
with double dialogue marks the entrapment of the pimp. Lik
end of Asinaria (cat. no. 2), the matrona and parasite
comment upon the conversation of the husband and son, t
ing the old man red-handed in his lascivious pursuits and
beloved from the clutches of the senex. There is no scene in Terence like
the climax of Casina (cat. nos. 7-8), where multiple eavesdroppers hear a
soliloquy.18
Finally, the two authors differ markedly in their use of meter for
ensemble scenes. While Plautus avoids iambic senarii in ensemble scenes,
eight of Terence's twenty-three ensemble scenes (and slightly over one-
third of the total lines in such scenes) are wholly or partly in that unac-
companied meter. Despite the inherent bustle of a stage crowded by four
speakers, Terence's characters still manage to talk to each other in a
conversational meter. Plautine characters in ensemble scenes speak in
more animated, less naturalistic modes. Indeed, while a quarter of Plautine
ensemble scenes contain polymetric cantica, there are no such songs in
Terence.19 It is also noteworthy that six Terentian ensemble scenes are
wholly or partly in iambic octonarii, a meter that Plautus almost entirely
avoided in his ensemble scenes.20 The difference in technique of the two
18 Terence does present one character eavesdropping on three speakers in Andria

(twice) and Phormio; Plautus does this only in Truculentus (cat. nos. 30-32).
19 However, Phormio 485-533 is a stichic mixture of iambic octonarii and trochaic
septenarii, with one iambic senarius and one iambic septenarius.
20 Out of 721 verses in ensemble scenes, Terence uses iambic octonarii for 126 verses
(17 percent); in contrast, out of over 2000 verses in ensemble scenes, Plautus uses iambic
octonarii only for Casina 897-98, Poenulus 1192a-95 and 1226. In the corpora as a whole,
Terence uses iambic octonarii in some 870 verses, Plautus only in some 420 verses, and then
generally for soliloquies (which might provide a clue as to why he found iambic octonarii
antithetical to ensemble scenes). On Terence's relative predilection for iambic octonarii,
see Duckworth 1952, 368.
authors is thus audible, and, not surprisingly in light of

point, Terence sounds more sedate while Plautus sounds m
While there is ample evidence for comparing ensemb
Plautus and Terence, and one can make reasonable con
Terence's insertions of ensemble scenes to his Greek origin
parison of Plautine ensemble scenes with passages in lost
nals remains speculative. Trying to explicate the relation
Plautine comedies and lost Greek originals by studying en
in Plautus remains far more tenuous than comparing Plaut
or comparing Terence and Menander. Since the evidence
three speakers in Menander is fairly solid, Lowe (1997) wa
firm ground in discussing four speaker scenes in Terentian r
Menander. In contrast, most of the plays of Plautus do no
Menander, and the Plautine plays derived from Diphilus
boisterous scenes that require us to entertain the possibil
ensemble scenes were penned by Diphilus rather than Pl
still attempt some general remarks with the understanding t
be corroborated or exploded by discovery of a complete script
or Alexis.
We can see at the outset that the authorship of the Greek original
may make a difference to Plautus' practice. His adaptations of Menander
and Philemon are conservative in their ensemble scenes. Stichus, the
lacunose Cistellaria, and Aulularia (if from Menander) nowhere require
four concurrent speakers, while Bacchides requires a fourth speaker only
for the final scene-that fourth speaker is very likely a Plautine addition.
Likewise, the two plays from Philemon essentially require only three
speakers: Mercator needs a fourth speaker for a single word and Trinum-
mus only for the play's final fifteen lines. Mostellaria, if from Philemon,
requires four or five speakers only for the drinking party, a party very
likely brought onstage by Plautus. Probably Menander and Philemon
adhered to a rule of three speakers, and Plautus did not see fit to insert
additional speakers with the freedom that Terence did. In contrast, the
two plays from originals by Diphilus (Casina and Rudens) require five
concurrent speakers and have several scenes with more than three speak-
ers. The Asinaria from Demophilus requires five concurrent speakers,
and the Poenulus from Alexis requires at least that number. The large
number of speakers required in these plays may suggest that Diphilus,
Alexis, and Demophilus did not adhere to the three-speaker rule ac-
knowledged by Menander. Or it may reflect different comic sensibilities
of the Greek authors, differences exaggerated by Plautus' introduction
of additional speakers. That is, Diphilean comedy may contain more
farcical or spectacular episodes that lend themselves to emb

with additional speakers.21 On the grounds that this could be
is worthwhile to attempt to isolate which speakers are Plautine ad
Evidence for Plautus' methods of inserting additional sp
scant and indirect. The best piece of evidence is the remark o
quoted above that Roman authors added quite a few (complur
ers to their scripts. From this we can suppose that Plautus did
and enliven his Greek originals through the insertion of addition
ers and that sometimes he created ensemble scenes. The solid evidence
for Terentian insertion of particular speakers also allows speculation
Plautine practice. Terence himself claims (Eunuchus 30-33) that he add
two characters to Eunuchus: Gnatho the parasite and Thraso the soldi
It is significant that Thraso and Gnatho appear in four of the five e
semble scenes in that play. In addition, Donatus observes in seve
places that Terence has introduced characters into his originals, som
times creating ensemble scenes.22 It may also be worth recalling Plaut
excision of speakers. In the fragments of Menander's Dis Exapaton, t
father of Sostratos converses with his son both before and after a choral
interlude (47-90). In the corresponding lines of Bacchides (520-30) that
father, Nicobulus, is nowhere to be found. If Plautus sometimes deletes
speakers, he might also occasionally add them.
We can posit three ways in which Plautus could renovate his origi-
nals to create ensemble scenes (Gaiser 1972, 1073). He could rearrange
entrances and exits to keep four speaking characters on the stage. He
could create a character outright. He could endow a character with
speech that was entirely mute or mute in a particular scene. The cata-
21 Webster's (1970,152-83) general appraisal of Diphilus still seems largely correct.

Especially relevant for the present study are his remarks that in Diphilus "[s]pectacle with
tableaux and violent action plays a large part" and that his plays present "a progressive
action between two opposed characters round which the minor characters are grouped,
and the speed of action is more important to the poet" (171).
22 In his comments on Andria, Donatus observes that Terence added the adulescens
Charinus and the slave Byrria (ad An. 301) and that he inserted material from Menander's
Perinthia into the opening, thereby replacing a monologue with a dialogue and changing
one of the speakers from a wife to a freedman (ad An. 14). He claims that Terence added
the protactic character Antipho to Eunuchus, thereby making a dialogue out of a mono-
logue (ad Eun. 539). He also remarks that Terence inserted the eavesdropper Antipho in
Phormio (ad Phor. 606), creating an ensemble scene. Note that the metatheatrically signifi-
cant name of the latter two added speakers is "Antipho," perhaps "Mr. Reply." Cf. Lowe
1997; Gaiser 1972, 1077-78; Barsby 1999,18. We also have solid evidence for later poets or
producers adding speakers to Terence's plays because our manuscripts preserve two end-
ings for Andria.
logue offers some speculative remarks on which speakers

have added to particular scenes.23
The rearrangement of exits and entrances can gen
semble scene without creating new characters or endowing
ters with speech. For example, at the close of Captivi, th
presence of the kidnapper Stalagmus creates an ensemble
4). He could be sent off after he reveals the identity of T
Plautus sees fit to retain him until the end. We can susp
availability of four or more speaking actors allowed Plautu
sequences of three-speaker scenes, thereby eliminating e
trances with changes of costume. For example, the close of
no. 2) is accelerated by having the parasite and matrona
senex on the couch with his son and girlfriend. Likewise, t
recognition, betrothal, and settlement with leno and soldier i
in Curculio (cat. nos. 9-10) and Poenulus (cat. nos. 23-26) in
the actors can remain onstage rather than exit to change
be necessary with a rule of three speakers. Similarly, en
may have offered Plautus a convenient means of patching ove
in his originals. For example, it seems that Plautus portrays a
ensemble scene onstage in Mostellaria (cat. nos. 15-16) whe
original offered a choral interlude partly motivated by
actors to change roles (Gaiser 1972, 1074-75; Barsby 1982
If Plautus did create characters, he probably wove th
fabric of a play rather than simply tacking them onto a
create an ensemble scene. For example, two characters w
tagged as Plautine creations, Paegnium in Persa (Hugh
23 Speculation about specific Plautine additions in any particular sc

cially perilous in light of Lowe's caution in diagnosing alterations to s
Terence, for whom we have better evidence of his practice (1997, 153:
changed his models is more difficult to establish and in some cases frank
wisest policy"). Cf. the cautious suggestions of Barsby on the five ens
Eunuchus (1999, 18, 169, 212, 229, 276, 280). Evidence of Plautine work
lexical or metrical level is of limited value in a discussion of alterations in
cannot be the decisive factor for determining which speaker was added. E
catalogue bears the hallmarks of Plautine verbal fireworks and has, at
tagged by scholars as containing lexical plautinisches. But that evide
whether or how specifically Plautus altered the blocking or endowed a mu
speech in order to create an ensemble scene. The same is true for the a
Since the meters in cantica are Plautine compositions not attested in G
have evidence that Plautus at the very least made metrical renovations to
strengthens our suspicion that his renovations included the addition of a
short of proving who the addition could be.
Charmides in Rudens (Lef6vre 1984, 10-13), participate in m

just ensemble scenes. Furthermore, most of the ten speaking
that appear exclusively in ensemble scenes advance the plot in
ways: Giddenis, Adelphasium, and Anterastilis in Poenulus;
Callicles, and his two maids in Truculentus; Artemona in As
danista in Epidicus; and Delphium in Mostellaria.24 Of these
phium's remarks are truly dispensable, though amusing. Th
that Plautus does not give dramatically insignificant characte
appearance solely for the purpose of composing ensemble scen
it suggests that Plautus reworked entrances and exits with the re
the aforementioned dramatically significant characters happe
only in ensemble scenes.
It is plausible that Plautus created ensemble scenes by e
characters with speech who were entirely mute in the Greek
at least mute in a given scene. In particular, there are sever
characters whose lines were probably crafted by Plautus rathe
author of a Greek original. If so, this would suggest that Plautus
ately chose to highlight persuasive female speakers who mani
or help to bring about a harmonious ending. The clearest
conspicuous examples of ensemble scenes in which we can su
Plautus gives a female character an important speaking role are: B
(the Bacchis sister in cat. no. 3); Casina (Cleostrata in cat. no. 5, M
in cat. nos. 7,8); Curculio (Planesium in cat. no. 10); Mostellaria
in cat. nos. 15, 16); Persa (the virgo callida in cat. no. 17 and
nis in cat. no. 18); and Poenulus (Anterastilis in the reunion of ca
Adelphasium in cat. no. 24, both in cat. no. 26). The effects
alteration vary according to the dictates of the play, but us
speech of these women reflects their power and their ability to i
others, particularly men.
The goals of influential female speech can be classified in tw
persuasion and mediation. Examples of the former include the
the eponymous virgo callida in Persa (whose dazzling oratoric
overwhelms both her victim and her supporters and is the center
24 Giddenis confirms that the girls are indeed Hanno's daughters; Adelph
speak with her lover Agorastocles, Anterastilis with her lover Antamoenide
one of them must speak with Hanno; Cyamus kindles the soldier's jealousy for
and Callicles elicits from the maids that Phronesium's baby is actually the child
and Callicles' daughter (one maid is perhaps a doublet, for only one need sp
the secret); Artemona's intervention at the finale saves Philaenium from the cl
senex; the danista closes the deal that secures Telestis (who stays onstage with
Stratippocles after the banker departs).
the play), the speech of the Bacchis sister (which underscores th

control of both fathers and sons), and the speeches of Cleostrata
and Pardalisca (which establish them as a triummatronat of p
scripting the action for the hapless men). These women use t
persuasion to secure the compliance of socially superior male
Second, a significant number of women speak out-often with
words-to mediate or reconcile victors with blocking cha
thereby facilitate a festive, happy ending.25 We see several
sume the function of mediator: Planesium, Anterastilis, and L
speak very few words during arguments between their lover
members and the pimp, but their pleas are effective and con
men to forego prosecution of the pimp.26 In a similar manner, t
ous senex amator Lysidamus appeals to Myrrhina as his
Casina (1000), and Myrrhina succeeds in obtaining his pa
Cleostrata and bringing the play to a close (My: censeo ecas
hanc dandam. Cl: faciam ut iubes.).
Finally, it is worth noting that Plautus features maids
exceptionally active with large speaking roles (Duckworth 19
Pardalisca in Casina, Milphidippa in Miles, and Astaphium in
all figure prominently in the execution of deceptions, and al
in ensemble scenes. This suggests that Plautus either has a p
for Greek plays with prominent maids or else he takes pains
enhance their speaking roles.27
25 Seven of the nine plays ending with an ensemble scene present fema
the finale, the exceptions being Captivi (a play devoid of female roles) and
play nearly devoid of female roles).
26 The case of Lemniselenis is instructive. She speaks only at the close o
no. 18; Leo and Ernout attribute to her the outcry miser est qui amat in 1
manuscripts), helping Toxilus to celebrate his victory in drunken revelry
reconciliation between him and Dordalus. Chiarini (1979,202-3) may be cor
benevolent words towards Dordalus are mere play-acting. However insinc
may be, they are clearly a foil to the outright maliciousness of Paegnium,
reluctance to join this ludificatio of the pimp suggests some sincerity in h
(833-34: Tox: hunc ludificemus. Lem: nisi si dignust, non opust. et me haud pa
27 Terence, too, may have created or expanded speaking female role
ensemble scenes. In Heauton Timorumenos, there are grounds for believing
composed four ensemble scenes by endowing with speech Antiphila, the N
and Sostrata (Lowe 1997, 161-64). Phormio closes with an ensemble sce
Nausistrata dictates terms of the final settlement. Enhancement of the role of the maid
Dorias may have created a four-speaker scene in Eunuchus (Lowe 1997,165), and Terence
may also be credited with giving Lesbia two sentences in Andria (Lowe 1997,160). Most of
these female speakers make brief and dispensable remarks, but the role of Nausistrata and
Sostrata in effecting a resolution is reminiscent of Plautine practice.
Plautus has a reputation for delighting in the disrup

progress of naturalistic Greek New Comic plots. With its
sodes of farce, improvisation, and musically enhanced can
comedy strikes us as a different theatrical experience from
of Menander and Terence. The foregoing analysis of ens
provides yet another means for identifying, assessing, an
those differences and, I hope, invites others to pursue m
along these lines.28
HOLLINS UNIVERSITY
e-mail: gfranko@hollins.edu
APPENDIX:
CATALOGUE OF ENSEMBLE SCENES IN PLAUTUS
The following catalogue briefly lists the speakers and their activ
It suggests how the presence of a fourth or fifth speaker enhan
impact, especially through techniques that are characteristic
speculates on which speaker could be a Plautine addition. Both
and line numbers are given because the precise point of entry or
ance is often flexible. An asterisk (*) denotes the final scene o
scenes (cat. nos. 6, 30, 32) are doubtful cases regarding the pr
more speakers and are thus bracketed.
1. Asinaria, III.3 (591-745). 4 speakers. Iambic septenarii: The
and Leonida eavesdrop on, then tease their young master A
his girlfriend Philaenium. The scene is drawn out by mu
metatheatrical fun. It begins as eavesdropping with a dou
which the slaves, having successfully perpetrated a ruse to o
plan and direct a second small play that is a slapstick ludifica
(note recurrent compounds of ludo; Slater 1985, 63; Lowe
Their play-within-a-play offers an outstanding example of
element in Plautine drama, as Argyrippus must debase himsel
slaves in order to receive the money from them (Segal 19
Demophilus employed only three speakers, perhaps Liban
because Leonida actually has the money (570). Alternative
enium's presence is not required for the transfer of money, i
Plautus added her to the scene (Lowe 1992, 163-70) or end
speech. Her role as a speaking character here nicely illumin
28 wish to thank for their helpful comments Timothy J. Moore, S

C. W. Marshall, the editor and anonymous referees of AJP, and those
draft of this study at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Philolog
lous bravado of the slaves and further humiliates Argyrippu

endure watching his girlfriend embrace, kiss, and wheedle th
2. Asinaria, V.2 (882-941)*. 5 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: In V
and his father Demaenetus are engaged in a drinking party w
Philaenium. The matrona Artemona and the parasite enter in
tion (851). They eventually notice, then eavesdrop on, and fin
revelers. Philaenium speaks to join in the recrimination of t
ensemble scene makes a dramatic impact in three ways. First,
on stage makes for a spectacular ending, and Plautus may be re
moving this party from behind closed doors onto the stage (L
73). Second, the arrival of Artemona and the parasite, by cre
dialogue and final confrontation, compresses and intensifie
have to be a series of scenes with two or three speakers in whic
observes the party, reports his observations to Artemona, an
confronts Demaenetus. As Plautus has written it, Artemona
with the audience, sees and hears Demaenetus' demands to s
with Philaenium and confronts him immediately. Third, the
of Demaenetus' lechery, as opposed to a mere report of it,
whatever goodwill in the audience the old man had gained by
son. The son and his mistress endorse Artemona's interven
saving her from being seen as a ruthless killjoy. The advance
tus-reminiscent of Lysidamus' obsession to enjoy the ius pri
Casina-dishearten Argyrippus who, as in III.3, must see his P
the clutches of one of his "helpers." Again, like Casina, the m
intervention foils the lewd senex amator and helps ensure a
come for the young lovers (cf. Konstan 1983, 49-51).
3. Bacchides, V.2 (1120-1206)*. 4 speakers. Mixed cantica: Th
sisters soothe and seduce the two angry fathers, inviting them
sons at a party inside. The sisters play-act to create a sequence
ping with asides from 1121-40. If Menander had included a d
tion scene, it is likely that one Bacchis sister was mute, and
would be responsible for endowing her with speech (Barsby
1986,184-88).The gain is obvious, for two speaking Bacchides
score the "duality method" (Duckworth 1952,184-85) manifes
out the play in two fathers, two sons, and two courtesans. Plaut
change the title from Dis Exapaton to Bacchides suggests a shif
from the wily slave to the manipulative twin sisters (Anderson
Indeed, the play ends not with Chrysalus writing the script, bu
women, the only women in the play, directing the action (Sla
17). It is thus fitting that both coaxing courtesans verbally sedu
men. There is perhaps some inconsistency in the characterizat
men as suddenly libidinous "sheep." On the one hand, consiste
ary to the desire for a festive, farcical ending; on the other, the t
of the old men attests to the power of the Bacchis sisters, w
ensnares fathers as easily as sons.
4. Captivi, V.4 (998-1028)*. 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Tyn

learn his birthright and be reunited with his father Hegio in t
his former master Philocrates and his kidnapper Stalagmus. S
speaks only the final line, at least according to the Palatine ma
all modern editors, but he has been onstage since V.1 and speak
out V.2 (with Hegio) and V.3 (with Hegio and Philocrat
Stalagmus could be dismissed after his interrogation in V.3, as
have happened in the Greek original. However, his visible pre
utes powerfully to the resolution. As kidnapper, he has played
to that of a leno who traffics in wrongfully enslaved freebo
thus the staging of his chastisement at the play's end may rem
settlements with a leno (cf. Segal 1987, 212-13, which sugg
ending toys with stereotyped comic resolutions). This is not a
reunion of long-lost family members. Even allowing for ignor
ties, the son has guilefully abused the fides of his father, and
inflicted servile physical punishments on the son. Perhaps Stal
his closing words volunteers to take chains upon himself, fulf
scapegoat necessary for a satisfactory, if relatively unfest
(Konstan 1983, 69-72; McCarthy 2000, 198-201).
5. Casina, 11.6 (353-423). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Old Lysid
Cleostrata, and the slaves Olympio and Chalinus perform a lo
disposition of the slave Casina. The eponymous scene of Dip
menoi probably presented the old man supervising the lotter
peting servile suitors. Cleostrata, whose presence is not nece
lottery, could possibly have been mute in the Greek play.
impact of an active and speaking Cleostrata is at one level p
for it creates a balanced conflict between two pairs. The slav
insult each other under the direction of their masters in one of Plautus' most
slapstick scenes. At a deeper level, her activities may alter the plans of
Lysidamus and increase suspense: fortuna, not the rigged lottery planned by
Lysidamus (342: sortiar), determines the fate of the girl. By endowing
Cleostrata with speech here and elsewhere, Plautus seems to have enhanced
her role (Anderson 1993,53-58; Lefevre 1979,326-28; Franko 2001,178-79;
Lowe 2003).
[6. Casina, IV.4 (815-35). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica.]: Lysidamus and Olympio
receive the "bride" (a silent Chalinus in disguise) from Cleostrata and
Pardalisca. The attribution of speakers is highly uncertain. Cleostrata's pres-
ence is guaranteed by 835 (iamne abscessit uxor?) but she need not speak
(Leo keeps her silent in his edition). She is the director of the play to entrap
Lysidamus (Slater 1985, 84-93) and thus could silently control the action
through her player Pardalisca. On the other hand, the advice to the "bride,"
replete with echoes of traditional Roman wedding formulae, is best spoken
by the matron Cleostrata (Williams 1958, 17-22). The gains of the ensemble
scene are visual and thematic. At the visual level, the audience sees "Casina"
torn between balanced and competing pairs. At the thematic le

pairs recall and reify what was at stake in the lottery (cat. no. 5): th
and her subordinate now hand over the bride to the master and his subor-
dinate.
7. Casina, V.2 (875-936). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica: Cleostrata, Pardalisca, an

the neighbor Myrrhina eavesdrop on Olympio's account of his adventure
with the cross-dressed Chalinus. The scene is highly metatheatrical, for
Olympio speaks to the audience directly (879: operam date) in a kind of
tragic messenger speech while the triummatronat as an internal audience
enjoys his account of a performance that they themselves have scripted
(Moore 1998, 176). The entrapment of Olympio is an unexpected bonus for
Cleostrata, whose real target is Lysidamus himself (862-63: pervelim progredir
senem). Perhaps this entire doublet of Lysidamus' humiliation is a Plautine
addition. A play with only three speakers could function with a mute
Myrrhina. Pardalisca interrogates Olympio directly and ceases to speak
after 935, possibly so that the actor could leave the stage to reemerge as
Chalinus at 960. See further cat. no. 8.
8. Casina, V.4 (963-1011)*. 5 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: In V.3, Cleostrata,

Myrrhina, and Olympio silently eavesdrop on Lysidamus (937-62). Pardalisca
could also be present and mute, but more likely she has exited at 935 (cf. cat.
no. 7). Lysidamus, like Olympio before him, delivers a monologue to the
audience about his misadventures with Casina. Moore, who draws attention
to a "hierarchy of rapport" in which characters at the bottom of the hierar-
chy have their monologues and asides to the audience overheard (1998, 33-
35), notes that Lysidamus here is at his nadir, overheard by the women and
his own crony (1998, 177). No one else in Plautus sinks so low in the
hierarchy of rapport.
With the arrival of Chalinus (963), the group compels Lysidamus to
confess his misdeeds. The origin of this exceptionally farcical ending is hotly
contested. While there is widespread belief that Plautus altered the ending
of Diphilus' Kleroumenoi by excising a scene of recognition and betrothal,
there is little agreement on whether his point of departure included the ruse
of a transvestite bride and its subsequent revelation (cf. concise review of
contaminatio by Cody 1976,462-76; Lefevre 1979). Comparison with Rudens
suggests that Diphilus was fond of what MacCary (1973,208) dubbed "spec-
tacular scenes," and one element enhancing his spectacles may have been
the presence of four or more concurrent speakers. Whether this closing
ensemble scene derives from Diphilus or Plautus, the additional speakers
enhance Cleostrata's triumph over Lysidamus by making it public. The
speeches of the other three characters are very well motivated and dramati-
cally effective. Chalinus provides snippets of sordid details that make Lysida-
mus' shame all the greater; Olympio turns stool pigeon to incriminate the
old man with details of his plot; Myrrhina successfully mediates between
Cleostrata and Lysidamus to close the play with minimal rancor.
9. Curculio,V.2 (610-78). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii (610-34

(635-78): The soldier Therapontigonus reemerges to con
Phaedromus, his girlfriend Planesium, and the parasite Curc
examining a ring owned by the girl's father. Therapontigonus
ring and realizes that he and Planesium are siblings. The recoun
family history is marked by the change from septenarii to sen
of musical accompaniment lends itself to exposition scenes. Th
then betroths his sister to Phaedromus. Thus, the scene compa
functions: family reunion and betrothal. The sudden endors
formerly adversarial soldier is reminiscent of a scene in Po
24). What of Curculio? His presence is thematically superflu
ably a Plautine addition (Lefevre 1991a, 80-81), perhaps to
dwindling role of his title character. Curculio's jokes and cl
typical of a parasite's preoccupation with food, make good c
the context of an imminent wedding feast.
10. Curculio, V.3 (679-729)*. 4 or 5 speakers. Trochaic septenari

Planesium, and Therapontigonus overhear the brief entrance
the pimp Cappadox and then accost him. Most editors a
assume that Curculio leaves the stage after 675; however, h
assigned lines 712 and 713-14 (as does Ernout, following B), t
ing five speakers. Therapontigonus and Phaedromus both thr
at length, and it seems that a three-speaker scene would res
these three characters, with Planesium either silent or offstag
are minimal but effective: in one and one-half lines (697-98), s
purity and thereby helps to mediate between the disputants,
mediation by the women at the ending of Poenulus (cat. no.
11. Epidicus, V.1 (627-47). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Epid
Stratippocles meet Stratippocles' beloved Telestis and the d
barely an ensemble scene, for the four speakers do not conver
even on the same subject. In effect, there is an inner and an o
dialogue: the banker and Stratippocles discuss payment, wi
exiting to fetch the money (627-33); Epidicus recognizes and
Telestis (634-45); Stratippocles reenters with the purse at 646,
says goodbye at 647. This ensemble scene may be motivated
considerations. Something needs to happen onstage while S
fetches the money, and a comparison with a similar disposa
Plautus' adaptation of Dis Exapaton may be instructive.
In Dis Exapaton, Sostratos has decided to return money t
They meet and enter the house together. During a choral inter
hands over the money, and then the two return to the stage i
In Bacchides, Mnesilochus decides to return the money and exi
enters and delivers a four-line monologue. Mnesilochus retu
that he has handed over the money. Plautus, working withou
ludes, inserted Pistoclerus' brief monologue to allow for the tr

gold (Barsby 1982, 81-82; 1986, 142-43). Plautus need not be
an interlude in order to use this technique (cf. cat. no. 21). If t
wholesale Plautine renovation from 648 forward is well founde
1940, on 648-65 and on 666-733), then some necessary rearran
have resulted in this short ensemble scene.
12. Miles, IV.4 (1137-96). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: The clever slave
Palaestrio, the young lover Pleusicles, the courtesan Acroteleutium, and her
maid Milphidippa rehearse a ruse. The scene exemplifies how a clever slave
can script and direct his assistants to perform a deceitful play-within-a-play
(Petrone 1983, 39-42; cf. cat. no. 20). The scene could function perfectly well
with a mute Milphidippa. The maid has already established herself as an
important figure by a lengthy performance in which she duped the soldier
into believing that he has an admirer (IV.2). She must be present here to
learn her role in IV.6, but she need not speak to hear her part (cf. her mute
presence in III.3). Furthermore, two points suggest that Plautus may have
endowed her with speech here. First, she only has a few lines at the begin-
ning of the scene, and they have nothing to do with the planning of the ruse
(1138-42). Second, her exchange with Palaestrio concerning who is the
better architectus doli bears thematic and lexical hallmarks of Plautine ag-
grandizement of the role of the clever slave.
13. Miles, IV.6 (1216-80). 4 speakers. Iambic septenarii: Acroteleutium and
Milphidippa enter and stage a conversation to dupe the soldier Pyrgopoly-
nices, who eavesdrops alongside Palaestrio. The fourth speaker creates two
dramatic effects that would not be possible in a three-speaker scene. First, it
allows a double dialogue to trick the eavesdropper (cf. cat. no. 17). The
soldier would no doubt be gulled if he alone overheard the women, but his
responses are controlled more tightly by Palaestrio's directions. Second, it
heightens the bombastic overacting of Acroteleutium through her inability
to speak once she catches sight of the soldier. Acroteleutium falls dumb in
the awesome presence of Pyrgopolynices (1266), and Milphidippa must step
forward to speak on behalf of her mistress (cf. Nixon's stage directions).
Throughout cat. no. 12 and 13, the women are consummate actresses, "distin-
guished by their zeal for the show; they improvise with skill and wit, and
delight in opportunities for affectation" (Gerdes 1995, 159). As soon as the
women depart (1280), Pyrgopolynices catches sight of Pleusicles in disguise
(1281). Performance probably requires a fifth actor, though only four actors
speak concurrently.
14. Miles, IV.8 (1311-53). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Pleusicles, disguised as
a captain, enters to carry off his beloved Philocomasium, as Palaestrio con-
tinues to function as the director of the deception of Pyrgopolynices. Played
with only three speakers, this scene could limit its focus either to the farcical
deception of the soldier (Pyrgopolynices, Pleusicles, and Pa

the romantic union of the lovers (Pyrgopolynices, Pleusicles
masium). The availability of a fourth speaker generates a mi
and romance. The young lovers' impatient, joyful emotions som
whelm their attempts to stay in character for tricking the sold
kissing explained as an attempt to hear her breathing), there
this exquisite "dance at the edge of the well" (Vogt-Spira 19
entrance of mute porters bearing Philocomasium's luggage (
magnifies this moment of grand deception.
15. Mostellaria, 1.4 (313-47). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica: Young

his beloved Philematium meet their tipsy friends Callidamates
and they plan to continue their drinking party. This is one of
spectacular sympotic scenes, enriched by the lyric mode (F
319), and all the more noteworthy for not being part of a festiv
It serves to manifest Philolaches' debauchery (pergraecari!) i
absence and further Philematium's characterization as a bona meretrix de-
voted to Philolaches. Plautus may have brought the party outside (Barsby
1982,85; Lowe 1995,24-27) and also endowed Delphium with speech (Barsby
1982, 84-86; Gaiser 1972, 1074-75). The scene continues in cat. no. 16.
16. Mostellaria, II.1 (348-98). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Tranio the clever
slave interrupts the revelers. The scene has four speakers, but staging re-
quires five speaking actors because Tranio, Philolaches, Callidamates, and
Delphium all talk, while Philematium, who spoke in 1.4, falls silent in II.1
(her continuing presence is attested at 397). In a play with only three speak-
ers, a mute extra could take her role after the previous scene, freeing the
actor to become Tranio. But that is only possible after a choral interlude, not
in a play with continuous action (Barsby 1982, 84-86). Since Callidamates
and his servants are later needed for the denouement, Barsby is probably
correct to postulate a three-actor scene in which Tranio confronts the inebri-
ated males with silent women hanging on. If so, Plautus has endowed the
courtesan Delphium with speech.
17. Persa, IV.4 (549-672). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Staging throughout
Act IV requires four or five speaking actors, but only here do we have four
concurrent speakers. Sagaristio speaks with the virgo callida as Toxilus and
the pimp Dordalus eavesdrop. The four then converse together (576ff.),
leading to the pimp's purchase of the girl. This highly metatheatrical ruse
has two parts. First, the conspirators gull Dordalus by letting him eavesdrop,
which normally is a position of power. In reality, he overhears a staged
conversation, a play-within-a-play (cf. Miles cat. no. 13; Slater 1985, 48-49,
164). He is already prepared to make the purchase when Toxilus suggests an
interrogation of the virgo. This is unnecessary for the trick but provides the
chance for a bravado performance by the virgo. It is likely that Plautus has
endowed her with speech to prolong and enliven the deception (Chiarini
1978; Lowe 1989). Her characterization as now noble, now cunning

sistent, but there is little compelling evidence to proclaim that Plau
took a mala meretrix and exaggerated her simulated modesty (C
made a good girl act with malitia and calliditas (Lowe).
18. Persa, V.2 (777-857)*. 5 speakers. Mixed cantica: In V.1, Sagaristio
his girl Lemniselenis, the mute slave Paegnium, and other attend
a drinking party. When Dordalus enters at 777, all taunt him,
Paegnium begins to speak (794). The scene is a spectacular ex
onstage symposiastic revelry, enhanced by the lyric mode (Frae
319) and bearing the marks of massive Plautine renovation (Lowe
28, n.15). The degree of reconciliation is ambiguous. The pimp, who
itous arrival is unmotivated, is both ridiculed and invited to join
His refusal to join the festivity marks him as an agelast and thu
abuse (Segal 1987, 87-90; McCarthy 2000, 156-58). The conflicting
for closing the comedy-to mock and expel the pimp or forgive
grate him-are embodied in the behavior of Paegnium and Lemn
The former is abusive, both verbally and physically. His presence
throughout the play may be attributed to Plautus (Hughes 1984).
nis, who is named symposiarch at 770, tries to dissuade Toxilus
menting Dordalus (833) and seems to be an unwilling participan
ludificatio (833,834) until she is browbeaten by Toxilus into joinin
cf. Auhagen 2001, 104-6; Lowe 1995, 28, n.15). Perhaps she, rat
Toxilus, demands an end to the mockery at 854 (satis sumpsimu
iam; see Woytek 1982, on 854). She also tries to soothe Dordalu
convince him to join the festivity (799-801, 849, 851). Once again
woman mediating to try to achieve a more harmonious ending.
19. Poenulus, 1.2 (210-409). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica (210-60), trochai
(261-409): Agorastocles and his slave Milphio eavesdrop on, then
(330) the girls Adelphasium and Anterastilis. The ancilla also spe
(332). The scene is hilarious, and the extent to which a fourth
affords opportunities for comic business becomes obvious when
pare this scene to the less exuberant Mostellaria 1.3 in which P
makes asides to himself (or the audience) while watching Philem
Scapha. This scene also lays the groundwork for later parallels wi
23 in content, staging, and meter (these are the only two cantica in
Oddities of 1.2 make it a target for claims of contaminatio or fr
composition. For example, the men, having decided to enter the ho
end of I.1, remain onstage. Furthermore, characterization of all f
ers is reduced to the comic stereotypes of pathetic lover, crafty
meretrices, which is especially jarring in that Adelphasium here
role of seasoned meretrix with gusto. While the conversation of t
is necessary to the development of the plot, the asides of the
master are pure silliness, and their scurrilous behavior smacks o
composition (Lowe 1988). Possibly, only the lover was eavesdr

Alexis' play, and Plautus has added Milphio to enhance his role
1982, 110, n. 2; cf. cat. no. 22).
20. Poenulus, III.2 (578-608). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Milph

his plan to fool the pimp with Agorastocles, their helper Colly
some advocati, who will serve as witnesses. The scene is largely
because Milphio already has divulged his scheme to Agoras
Agorastocles already has given money to Collybiscus (415) and
the advocati on their role (III.1); and Milphio already has
Collybiscus on his role (III.2). The entire scene is a rehearsal, a
induzione," for an elaborate ruse that is thoroughly Plautine
conscious theatricality (Petrone 1983, 15-33; note especially th
breaking joke of the advocati about stage money, 597-99). We c
that Plautus has tinkered with the portrayal of the advocati, perh
lowering their social status (Rosivach 1983) or perhaps making s
of mute extras in Alexis' Karchedonios (Lowe 1990, 278-93). A
latter view, Arnott contends that an unassigned fragment of Alex
adapted by Plautus at 522ff., a passage spoken by the advocati at t
(Arnott 1996, 285-86, 740-43).
21. Poenulus, III.4 (711-20). 4 speakers. Iambic senarii: The advocat
Agorastocles to watch Collybiscus, who is disguised as a Spart
trick the pimp Lycus. This is a rudimentary form of double eav
Agorastocles speaks only five words (711), observes the encount
of Collybiscus and Lycus at 720, and then converses with the a
about twenty lines. His presence as a witness is unnecessary and
that the advocati were adduced to be the witnesses. Furthermore,
and the money need only be reported in Lycus' house; a witn
actual entry is not crucial to bring charges. But Plautus likes t
audience a trick rather than merely report it. Lowe (1990, 285-8
structural grounds for this ensemble scene, arguing that both t
and Agorastocles are Plautine additions to help patch over an em
created by the departure of Collybiscus and Lycus and to cov
interlude during which Lycus received the money (cf. cat. no. 11
22. Poenulus, V.3 (1120-54). 4 speakers. Iambic senarii: Milphio sum
Carthaginian nurse Giddenis to identify the newly arrived Han
presence of Agorastocles and a bunch of Punic porters. This cro
falls amidst a sequence that, in Gratwick's analysis (1982, 98-10
the hand of Plautus in trying to graft a second trick onto Alexis' Kar
Milphio's trick, in which Hanno would pose as the father of t
unnecessary because he is the father of the girls. At this point, a c
between the nurse and Hanno is necessary to establish that the g
daughters, and it is important for the lover Agorastocles to hear th
unnecessary presence here seems like the last attempt in a perva
enhance his role (cf. cat. no. 19), and Hanno and Agorastocle
him from the stage (1147-54). As a consequence of Milphio
steal the limelight, Agorastocles has stood by in a dramaturgic
silence from 1086-1136. The nurse's son also speaks a word i
a conjecture of Angelius), marking a brief and sincere family
foreshadows and contrasts with Hanno's convoluted reunion with his
daughters.
23. Poenulus, V.4 (1174-1279). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica (1174-1200), troc

septenarii (1201-25), iambic septenarii (1226-73), trochaic septenarii (1
79): Agorastocles and Hanno eavesdrop on, then converse with Hanno
daughters Adelphasium and Anterastilis. Plautus is having fun with
inconsistent characterization of Hanno, making this one of the oddest fa
reunions in the corpus. Hanno replaces Milphio as a servus callidus to m
wisecracks with Agorastocles in a double-eavesdropping scene that mir
cat. no. 19; he accosts the girls in a flirtatious manner; he cruelly toys w
them as if a Roman jurisconsult; and finally, after the recognition, gi
pious prayer of thanksgiving (Franko 1996). The use of a fourth speak
excellent, because a scene with only three speakers would have to forego
double eavesdropping. But the reunion itself, which culminates visually
four-part nervom bracchialem (1269), involves basically three speakers. F
the moment the men hail the girls (1212), Adelphasium does all the tal
to her father and lover while Anterastilis says nothing or next to not
(Leo, Ernout, and Lindsay assign her parts of 1260-61 and 1268).
24. Poenulus, V.5 (1280-1337). 5 speakers. Trochaic septenarii (1280-1303), i
bic senarii (1304-37): The soldier Antamoenides enters, beholds the Car
ginian family engaged in a group hug, and begins insulting Hanno a
Agorastocles. The scene has potential to be one of the most spectacular
noisy in Plautus, especially when Agorastocles orders his mute attendants
fetch clubs (1319-20). The soldier's taunt at Agorastocles (te cinaedum
arbitror, 1318) appears to reproduce a fragment of the Greek original (bak
ei; Arnott 1996,285-87), which implies that Alexis presented a confrontat
between the soldier and the young man (unless Plautus transferred
insult from Hanno to Agorastocles). If Alexis had employed only th
speakers, he might have shuttled the two girls offstage before the arriv
the soldier or else shown them onstage as mute extras, perhaps after a ch
interlude. In the previous scene, Adelphasium conversed with father
lover while Anterastilis stood by; here, Adelphasium has little to say (1
while Anterastilis now speaks up to mediate between her paramour and
family (1322-25). A conciliatory tone may be central to Anterastilis' ch
ter (Maurach 1988, 220).
25. Poenulus, V.6 (1338-67)*. 4 speakers. Iambic senarii: Agorastocles, Han
and Antamoenides confront Lycus. Agorastocles sends the two women
side (1356). If genuine, this would be the only ending in the palliata in se
(cf. the microscopic analysis of endings in Zwierlein 1990, 56-

wrangling among the four men shows a typically crowded settlem
leno.
26. Poenulus, V.7 (1372-1422)*. 6 speakers. Iambic senarii (1372-97)

septenarii (1398-1422): Agorastocles, Hanno, Antamoenides, and
women confront Lycus. If genuine, this might be our only clear si
scene. The settlement with the leno is reminiscent of the close of Curculio
(cat. no. 10). The availability of four or more speakers allows Plautus to
compress into one sequence two different disputes (Hanno's family versus
Lycus for kidnapping; Antamoenides versus Lycus for repayment). Unlike
the other ending to Poenulus, the women here speak, and they are su-
premely efficient in bringing the play to a harmonious close, needing to
deliver only one line apiece (1405-6) to convince Hanno not to pursue a
legal settlement with the pimp.
27. Rudens, III.6 (868-91). 4 speakers. Iambic senarii: In Act III, there are never
more than four concurrent speakers, although the staging presents a bewil-
deringly rapid succession of characters who do speak: Daemones, Plesidippus,
Trachalio, Charmides, Labrax, Palaestra, Ampelisca, lorarii (see further
Prescott 1932,122-23).The quip of a lorarius at 764 could permit classification
of III.4 as an ensemble scene (above, n. 4). Aside from that remark, the
sequence demonstrably requiring four concurrent speakers begins with the
arrival of the pimp's friend Charmides at 868, where Plesidippus and a
talking lorarius drag off the pimp, who appeals to Charmides in vain for help
(868-91). Lefevre may be correct that Charmides is a Plautine creation
(1984, 10-13), and one suspects that the talking lorarii are also Plautine
renovations. The silence of the women Ampelisca and Palaestra is remark-
able. They speak in III.3, then stand silently by the altar from III.4 (cf. the
deictic hasce at 736) through III.6. Gaiser (1972, 1075-76) argues that in
Diphilus' play they were inside the temple and that Plautus brought them
onstage to the altar, thereby increasing the dramatic tension by making the
threats of Labrax visible and more imminent. Kurrelmeyer (1932, 77-79)
suggests that the speaking actors who play the girls exit around 701 and can
be replaced by mutes, prompting the question and response at 707: ubi sunt?
huc respice. If so, and if it were somehow clear to the Roman audience that
the girls were now being played by mute extras, Labrax's appeals to them to
intercede for him take on a metatheatrical dimension: Palaestra says noth-
ing to help Labrax as he is hauled away because she is a kophon prosopon!
28. Rudens, IV.4 (1045-1183). 5 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Father Daemones
arbitrates between the slaves Gripus and Trachalio and recognizes his daugh-
ter Palaestra. Ampelisca is silent except for the final line of the scene (1183).
Plautus crowds the stage to make more spectacular the climax of his play.
Anderson (1993,46-53) argues that Diphilus, obeying a rule of three speak-
ers, presented first a scene of arbitration with Daemones, Gripus, and Trachalio
and then a scene of recognition with Daemones, Gripus, and

contends that Plautus desired to increase the length and viv
more farcical confrontation between the slaves, even to the po
ing Trachalio throughout the more melodramatic family reu
also accepting the three-actor rule for Diphilus, argues pla
Ampelisca is a Plautine creation (1984, 7); he less plausibly ar
Trachalio and Palaestra were added by Plautus for the arbit
recognition, leaving in Diphilus a two-speaker scene of
Gripus (1984, 20-21).
29. Trinummus, V.2 (1176-89)*. 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii
out his friend Lesbonicus to reconcile him with his father Charmides in the
presence of the neighbor Callicles. The ensemble scene closes the play with
forgiveness for wrongs done and promises of future good behavior sealed by
two betrothals: Lesbonicus will wed Callicles' daughter, and Lysiteles will
wed Lesbonicus' sister. Lefevre (1995, 116-19, 124) contends that Lysiteles'
presence is a Plautine renovation, supposing that in Philemon's play, Callicles
was father of Lysiteles and that Callicles and Charmides arranged two
marriages for their offspring. On the other hand, although the attribution of
speakers is not perfectly clear, Callicles seems to make only one negligible
wisecrack (1185-86), which indicates the play could easily have closed with
only the other three speakers.
[30. Truculentus, 11.7 (551-630). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica.]: The soldier Stra-
tophanes eavesdrops on and then confronts the meretrix Phronesium and
Cyamus, the slave of young Diniarchus, who arrives with a number of porters
bearing gifts. It is uncertain whether the maid Astaphium is in fact a fourth
speaker. Lefevre (1991b, 182, n. 33) follows Leo and Lindsay in attributing
parts of 584-86 to her; Ernout does not, nor does Enk (1953, 21-22), who
accepts the contention of Kurrelmeyer (1932, 22) that the actor playing
Astaphium also played Cyamus. The text is corrupt and the attribution of
speakers unclear. Phronesium ordered Astaphium to leave at 541, but she is
apparently back onstage with Phronesium when Cyamus greets them at 577
(vos). Astaphium's presence and remarks do not appreciably increase the
dramatic impact of this particular scene, whose focus is on the dialogue
between Cyamus and Phronesium and its effect on the eavesdropping
Stratophanes (cf. cat. no. 31); however, giving Astaphium a visible and au-
dible presence could fit a pattern of portraying her as an exceptionally
forceful and savvy maid (cf. cat. no. 32).
31. Truculentus, IV.3 (775-849). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Diniarchus eaves-

drops on Callicles' interrogation of two maids and then confronts them. He
learns that the baby in Phronesium's possession actually belongs to him and
Callicles' daughter. As with cat. no. 30, the presence of a fourth speaker is of
less dramatic importance than the eavesdropping itself. Moore studies the
prevalence of eavesdropping in the play and observes that eavesdroppers
"share with the audience a sense of superiority. The eavesdropping

Truculentus, however, have quite the opposite effect. The prin
droppers in this play are Diniarchus and Stratophanes, and wha
serve and hear gives them not superiority, but frustration and ev
tion" (1998, 151).
[32. Truculentus, V (914-67)*. 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii.]: St
converses with Phronesium and Astaphium. He hands a purse to Ph
who orders a servant (presumably Astaphium) to take it inside
atque auferto intro (914). The rest of verse 914 begins the entry
of young Strabax, which means that, even if this is not an ense
quite yet, the staging here requires four speaking actors. More im
does Astaphium return at some point to overhear the three-way
tion of Phronesium, Strabax, and Stratophanes? This is explicit
directions of Nixon (1938, 325). Perhaps so, and she might remain
Leo, Ernout, Lindsay, and Enk all follow Schoell's attribution to
of the gnomic proclamation at 950: stultus atque insanus damnis c
salvae sumus. The plural does suggest the sentiment of someon
nesium's household, rather than of just Phronesium herself, an
characteristic of Astaphium. Professor James Tatum informs me
Astaphium this remark is extremely effective in performance. Th
tion of lines to Astaphium in cat. nos. 30 and 32 would be cons
Plautus' portrayal of her as an exceptionally important servant, on
of extended cantica in I and II. As Duckworth (1952,255), who ac
attributions, observed: "Astaphium is unique in having a more act
far than does any other maid in Plautus. She is onstage during a
thirds of the action and what she says about Phronesium and h
gives the play much of its cynical and satirical tone."
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Ensemble Scenes in Plautus

Author(s): George Fredric Franko

GEORGE FREDRIC FRANKO

OUR PORTRAIT OF GREEK AND ROMAN NEW COMEDY is shaped

employ four or more concurrent speakers. Five of Teren

The conclusions in the text rest upon the details highligh

generally limits ensemble scenes to one or two key locations

5For arguments that Plautus moved the symposiastic scenes outsid

lena or leno to the control of the lover (Argyrippus and T

viewing audience (Slater 1985, 162-65). Several episodes in P

8 Catalogue numbers 1, 2 (actually two characters eavesdrop on three speakers), 3,

trio's comments serve to shape the soldier's understanding of

The variety of plots, resolutions, and denouements means th

Although the chronology of Plautus' plays is murky, it is possib

13 Nearly two-thirds of Plautus' ensemble scenes employ trochaic septenarii: fiftee

three words by the slave at Pseudolus 159. Bacchides, thou

14 Heauton Timorumenos, Eunuchus, Phormio, and Adelphoe. Later producers per-

five minutes of stage time. Plautus, rather than peppering his sc

16 Consideration of mean averages may be worthwhile but should not

eavesdropping, especially in order to create double dialog

18 Terence does present one character eavesdropping on three speakers in Andria

authors is thus audible, and, not surprisingly in light of

farcical or spectacular episodes that lend themselves to emb

21 Webster's (1970,152-83) general appraisal of Diphilus still seems largely correct.

logue offers some speculative remarks on which speakers

23 Speculation about specific Plautine additions in any particular sc

Charmides in Rudens (Lef6vre 1984, 10-13), participate in m

the play), the speech of the Bacchis sister (which underscores th

Plautus has a reputation for delighting in the disrup

28 wish to thank for their helpful comments Timothy J. Moore, S

lous bravado of the slaves and further humiliates Argyrippu

4. Captivi, V.4 (998-1028)*. 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Tyn

torn between balanced and competing pairs. At the thematic le

7. Casina, V.2 (875-936). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica: Cleostrata, Pardalisca, an

8. Casina, V.4 (963-1011)*. 5 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: In V.3, Cleostrata,

9. Curculio,V.2 (610-78). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii (610-34

10. Curculio, V.3 (679-729)*. 4 or 5 speakers. Trochaic septenari

ludes, inserted Pistoclerus' brief monologue to allow for the tr

deception of the soldier (Pyrgopolynices, Pleusicles, and Pa

15. Mostellaria, 1.4 (313-47). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica: Young

1978; Lowe 1989). Her characterization as now noble, now cunning

composition (Lowe 1988). Possibly, only the lover was eavesdr

20. Poenulus, III.2 (578-608). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Milph

23. Poenulus, V.4 (1174-1279). 4 speakers. Mixed cantica (1174-1200), troc

(cf. the microscopic analysis of endings in Zwierlein 1990, 56-

26. Poenulus, V.7 (1372-1422)*. 6 speakers. Iambic senarii (1372-97)

and then a scene of recognition with Daemones, Gripus, and

31. Truculentus, IV.3 (775-849). 4 speakers. Trochaic septenarii: Diniarchus eaves-

"share with the audience a sense of superiority. The eavesdropping

Anderson, William S. 1993. Barbarian Play: Plautus' Roman C

Brown, P. G. M. 1993. "Love and Marriage in Greek New Comedy.

Frye, Northrop. 1957. Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton: Princeton University

Jocelyn, Henry David. 1969. "Imperator histricus." YCS 21:97-123.

Prescott, Henry W. 1923. "The Doubling of Roles in Roman Com

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