Titus Maccius Plautus, Trinummus

JOHN THORBURN

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -194

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

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Philemon’s

Thesaurus

(“Treasure”), tentatively dated to the rule of Demetrius Poliorcetes in Athens (392-287 BC), provided the Greek original for Plautus’ play, whose title,

Trinummus

, refers to a sum of money worth three

nummi

(singular:

nummus

): the

nummus

was a silver coin of small value. The play is set in Athens before the houses of Charmides and Megaronides. The house of Philto is also nearby.

In the play’s prologue, the goddess Luxury sends her daughter Poverty into Lesbonicus’ house because he wasted his father Charmides’ fortune. Following Luxury’s departure, the elderly Megaronides chastises his friend Callicles, another elderly Athenian, for being greedy. Callicles explains that when Charmides realized he was becoming poor, Charmides entrusted to Callicles his

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1257 words

Citation: THORBURN, JOHN. "Trinummus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 October 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21416, accessed 25 November 2024.]

Titus Maccius Plautus, Trinummus

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