Comedies

PREFACE

mē quidem and mĕquidem. Furthermore, through such spellings, I have rendered the meter easier to understand: erŭ' noster1 for erŭs noster, tuǒ' dominus for tuǒs dominus, nemp' and perq' for nempe and perque when pronounced as monosyllables2; and I have indicated the meter with marks placed above whenever it was obscure, as in this line (Rud. 459):

Voluptátem inesse tantam. Ut hanc traxi lubens!

(where I have indicated with the mark that the line begins with an anapaest, not an iamb), for the second syllable of such words3 was accustomed to be heard in daily speech sometimes as long (volūptatem) and sometimes as short (volŭptatem); or in a line with hiatus4, as in Cas. 724 (anap. octonar.):

Bone uir, salue. Fateor. Quid fit ? Tu amás, ego éssurio et sitio.

Assisted by these aids to understanding the meter, you will easily suffer, kind reader, that I have not indicated the so-called metric ictus in this edition with the continuous use of marks. I did not want

1: That is indeed sometimes more convenient than it is accurate. For in such a line (Capt. 163):

who will dare to affirm that the prosody of the preceding and following disyllable existed in a different way? Who will say that the line Capt. 826 begins with a spondee?

2: I have nevertheless kept the customary spelling in audin for audisne and, before a consonant, ac for atque, nec for neque, and the like. I have written the verb in' (for isne), and the preposition in.

3: If, however, the diversity of pronunciation was never or rarely heard, there was no reason why I should use marks, as in these: volŭptas mea, enĭm (vero), satĭn (tutus), volǒ scire, apŭd (templum), Philippus (aureus). For just as in Martial's time smaragdus had a short second syllable in daily speech, so in the Plautine age Philippus, which abbreviation no doubt arose from the accent of the first syllable (σμάραγδος, Φίλιππος). I must also warn that, wherever doubt existed or seemed capable of existing, I have for the most part not wanted to apply marks, e.g., in Amph. 949, which line in my judgment ought to be scanned thus: ego ĭstúc curabo. | éuocate huc Sósiam (cf. Cas. 781 and 786).

4: Regarding Plautine hiatus, the learned disagree as much as on no other thing. For in the line mentioned above, although everyone recognizes the former hiatus, not