We lack specific external information regarding the date of Curculio; no evidence is available about the festival at which the play was first brought on stage, either. The date of the play, however, may be estimated with high probability because it is entwined with the date of Trinummus: the name of Curculio, the leading character in the play, is reported in Trinummus 1016; there, the play’s slave Stasimus, who, contrary to the etymology of his name (“he who may stay still / behind”), enters the stage as a servus currens, is called “a trainee of Curculio” ([huic] Curculiost exercitor: is hun hominem cursuram docet, “Curculio is his trainer: he has been teaching this guy how to run”). Gratwick (1981) has argued to everybody’s agreement that the comment in Trinummus

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Citation: Papaioannou, Sophia. "Curculio". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 September 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33492, accessed 22 November 2024.]