An important addition to contemporary scholarship on Plautus and Plautine comedy, provides new essays and fresh insights from leading scholars A Companion to Plautus is a collection of original essays on the celebrated Old Latin period playwright. A brilliant comic poet, Plautus moved beyond writing Latin versions of Greek plays to create a uniquely Roman cultural experience worthy of contemporary scholarship. Contributions by a team of international scholars explore the theatrical background of Roman comedy, the theory and practice of Plautus’ dramatic composition, the relation of Plautus’ works to Roman social history, and his influence on later dramatists through the centuries. Responding to renewed modern interest in Plautine studies, the Companion reassesses Plautus’ works—plays that are meant to be viewed and experienced—to reveal new meaning and contemporary relevance. Chapters organized thematically offer multiple perspectives on individual plays and enable readers to gain a deeper understanding of Plautus’ reflection of, and influence on Roman society. Topics include metatheater and improvisation in Plautus, the textual tradition of Plautus, trends in Plautus Translation, and modern reception in theater and movies. Exploring the place of Plautus and Plautine comedy in the Western comic tradition, the Companion: Addresses the most recent trends in the study of Roman comedy Features discussions on religion, imperialism, slavery, war, class, gender, and sexuality in Plautus’ work Highlights recent scholarship on representation of socially vulnerable characters Discusses Plautus’ work in relation to Roman stages, actors, audience, and culture Examines the plot construction, characterization, and comic techniques in Plautus’ scripts Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Plautus is an important resource for scholars, instructors, and students of both ancient and modern drama, comparative literature, classics, and history, particularly Roman history.

Plautus' Bacchides is one of the best and most typical of his plays which in its treatment of character, theme and dialogue provides an excellent introduction to Plautus.

The plays of Plautus have long been recognized as a unique mine of information about the spoken Latin of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. But detailed and up-to-date linguistic treatments of the Plautine meters and other phenomena in his plays have hitherto been lacking. This book seeks to remedy that gap by presenting a series of case-studies to glean information about the synchronic grammar of Plautine Latin, in particular the rhythmic organization of Latin speech and the effects of syntactic processes on Latin prosodic phonology. Some of the topics, such as enjambement and the aphaeresis of “est”, have never before received such treatment, while others, such as Meyer’s and Luchs’s laws, split resolutions, and iambic shortening, are provided a firmer linguistic footing, and fuller discussion of allied issues, than hitherto. Topics in Italic syntax (such as the syntactic structure of adpositional phrases and their history) and in Indo-European morphophonology (such as the prosodic status of finite verbs) are dealt with as well, as is an investigation into the effects of pragmatics on the rhythmic organization of phrases. The book will be of interest to classicists, comparative philologists, and general linguists.

Eduard Fraenkel was one of the most influential classicists of the twentieth century. His Plautine Elements in Plautus (originally published in German in 1922) revolutionized the study of Roman comedy. This translation makes this seminal work accessible to an English-speaking readership for the first time.

This new commentary on Pseudolus provides an excellent introduction to current trends and advances in the study of Roman comedy.