Produced by David Starner Blain Nelson Ted Garvinand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamTHECAPTIVIAND THEMOSTELLARIAOFPLAUTUSLiterally Translated_with notes_BYHENRY THOMAS RILEY B ADRAMATIS PERSONAEHEGIO an Aetolian father of PhilopolemusPHILOCRATES an Elean captive in AetoliaTYNDARUS his servantARISTOPHONTES an Elean captive in AetoliaPHILOPOLEMUS an Aetolian captive in ElisERGASILUS a ParasiteSTALAGAMUS the servant of HegioA SLAVE of HegioA LAD the same_Scene_A place in AetoliaTHE ACROSTIC ARGUMENT 1Supposed to have been written by Priseian the Grammarian_One_ son of Hegio has been made prisoner _Captus_ inbattle A runaway slave has sold the other _Alium_ when fouryears old The father _Pater_ traffics in Elean captives only_Tantum_ desirous that he may recover his son and _Et_among these he buys his son that was formerly lost He _Is_ hisclothes and his name changed with his master causes that _Ut_ heis lost _to Hegio_ _and_ he himself is punished And_Et_ he brings back the captive and the runaway together throughwhose information _Indicio_ he discovers his otherFootnote 1 In this Acrostic it will be found that the old form ofCapteivei is preserved                            THE PROLOGUEThese two captives _pointing to_ PHILOCRATES _and_ TYNDARUSwhom you see standing here are standing here becausethey are both 1standing _and_ are not sitting That I am saying this truly youare my witnesses The old man who lives here _pointing to_HEGIOs _house_ is Hegiohis father _pointing to_TYNDARUS But under what circumstances he is the slave of his ownfather that I will here explain to you if you give attention This oldman had two sons a slave stole one child when four years old andflying hence be sold him in Elis 2 to the father of this_captive_ _pointing to_ PHILOCRATES Now do you understandthis Very good I faith that man at a distance 3 there_pointing_ says no Come nearer _then_ If there isnt roomfor you to sit down there is for you to walk since youd be compellingan actor to bawl like a beggar 4 Im not going to burst myself foryour sake _so_ dont you be mistaken You who are enabled by yourmeans to pay your taxes 5 listen to the rest 6 I care not to be indebt to another This runaway _slave_ as I said before sold his_young_ master whom when he fled he had carried off to thisones father He after he bought him gave him as his own private slave7 to this son of his because they were of about the same age He isnow the slave at home of his own father nor does his father know itVerily the Gods do treat us men just like footballs 8 You hear themanner _now_ how he lost one _son_ Afterwards the Aetolians9 are waging war with the people of Elis _and_ as happens inwarfare the other son is taken prisoner The physician Menarchus buyshim there in Elis _On this_ this _Hegio_ begins to trafficin Elean captives if _perchance_ he may be able to find one tochange for that captive _son_ of his He knows not that this onewho is in his house is his own _son_ And as he heard yesterdaythat an Elean knight of very high rank and very high family was takenprisoner he has spared no expense to rescue his son 10 In order thathe may more easily bring him back home be buys both of these of theQuaestors 11 out of the spoilNow they between themselves have contrived this plan that by meansof it the servant may send away hence his master home And thereforeamong themselves they change their garments and their names He there_pointing_ is called Philocrates this one _pointing_Tyndarus he this day assumes the character of this one this one ofhim And this one today will cleverly carry out this plot and causehis master to gain his liberty and by the same means he will save hisown brother and without knowing it will cause him to return back afree man to his own country to his father just as often now on manyoccasions a person has done more good unknowingly than knowingly Butunconsciously by their devices they have so planned and devised theirplot and have so contrived it by their design that this one is livingin servitude with his own father _And_ thus now in ignorance heis the slave of his own father What poor creatures are men when Ireflect upon it This plot will be performed by usa play for your_entertainment_ But there is besides a thing which in a fewwords I would wish to inform you of Really it will be worth yourwhile to give your attention to this play Tis not composed in thehackneyed style nor yet like other _plays_ nor are there in itany ribald lines 12 unfit for utterance here is neither the perjuredprocurer nor the artful courtesan nor yet the braggart captain Dontyou be afraid because Ive said that theres war between the Aetoliainsand the Eleans There _pointing_ at a distance beyond thescenes the battles will be fought For this were almost impossible fora Comic establishment13 that we should at a moment attempt to beacting Tragedy If therefore any one is looking for a battle let himcommence the quarrel if he shall find an adversary more powerful Illcause him to be the spectator of a battle that isnt pleasant _tohim_ so that hereafter he shall hate to be a spectator of them allI _now_ retire Fare ye well at home most upright judges and inwarfare most valiant combatantsFootnote 1 _Becausethey are both_Ver 2 This is apparentlyintended as a piece of humour in catching or baulking the audience Hebegins as though he was going to explain why the captives are standingthere and ends his explanation with saying that they are standingbecause they are not sitting A similar truism is uttered by Pamphilain the Stichus l 120Footnote 2 _In Elis_Ver 9 Elis or as it is called byPlautus Alis was a city of Achaia in the northwestern part of thePeloponnesus Near it